Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition
by Silent Songbird
Summary: Hyoudou Issei is known for his perverted nature and the possession of the the Boosted Gear. However, in another universe entirely, he has two sacred gears. The Boosted Gear, and of course a reality warping gear known only as the mysterious Exodus Switch. A power that allows him to live his entire life... as a video game. So what do Ninjas have to do with all this? VideoGame!Issei.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: For some reason there was an error in this chapter. I apologize, and I also use this opportunity to welcome new readers to this story. Kindly do take this advice though: DO NOT make any assumptions until you reach chapter 9 of this story. Please and Thank You.**_

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons - Game of the Year Edition**

 **Prologue**

 **You have slept in your bed. HP and MP fully restored.**

Issei grumbled to himself as he blinked again and saw the magical floating words still in his vision. He sighed as he walked into the bathroom to wash his face, blankly looking at reflection in the mirror as he saw a title floating high above his head.

 **The Gamer**

 **Hyoudou Issei Lv. 3**

He scowled slightly as he tried to wave it off, his hands only floating through the texts as though it wasn't there. Issei wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, all he remembered was the accident which had occurred a few days ago. He'd actually been trying to peek on the female side of Kuoh's hot springs by climbing up a tree, unfortunately a cat had also climbed up that same tree. Several girls had arrived with the owner of the cat and then he'd managed to bluff his way and say that he was there to rescue the cat. He had grabbed the feline, but slipped his footing and crashed, nearly twelve feet into the ground. He was unconscious after that, but he could swear that the eyes of the cat looked at him with sparkling intelligence.

And then he could've sworn the cat turned into a red fox.

Then, after he'd been discharged from the hospital, this happened. He started seeing the floating names and numbers over everyone's heads along with titles he couldn't comprehend. Before Issei had sworn his life to the ways of the pervert, there _was_ a time in which he thought girls were icky and had a fear of the imaginary cooties. In those days, Issei played video games all day long, and was quite legendary at it. He'd won several video game competitions as well, so he easily identified a Video Game format when he saw one.

But now here was the question… why in the bloody hell was his life a videogame?

Issei brushed his teeth and threw on his uniform, he descended from his room downstairs to greet his mom, only to realize as he looked at the nearby clock that he was up way to early. Who went to school by 5am in the morning anyway?

Issei groaned in frustration. He was feeling totally refreshed and ready to roll, because apparently all he needed was to sleep in a bed for a minimum of four hours for him to be feeling great. He'd stayed up all night playing through some old dating simulations before he fell asleep, hoping he'd at least get to enjoy the familiar feeling of sleeping in, but it seemed that it was all for naught.

"Well… might as well put together a decent meal."

 _PING!_

 **New Quest! There's No We In Food!**

 **Cook breakfast for yourself and your parents.**

 **Rewards: A Nice Meal, 150 EXP, ?, ?, ?**

 **Failure: nil**

 **(Y/N)**

Issei grumbled to himself as he had to deal with this again. His life was a video game and as such, the entire world around him and turned a dull gray as the blue quest window appeared in his vision. Of course he'd gain experience from the successful completion of any quest whatsoever, but he did however wonder what the three question marks were for. Reluctantly, he accepted the quest and watched the world go back into color.

He stared at the electric cooker and decided that he had no idea as to what he'd make. He stared at the cooker and decided to make the traditional steamed rice and miso soup with a side dish of tamagoyami.

 _PING!_

 **A new skill has been created through continuous action!**

 **Cooking [Passive] Lv.1 has been unlocked.**

 **This is the art of mixing ingredients to create food for sustenance and life. The higher the level of the skill, the better the taste of the food, the greater the bonuses gained.**

Issei stared blank-faced at the notification in annoyance. He already knew how to cook for kami's sake. Closing it, he continued the process. Only to stare in fascination as he noted that even though it had been several minutes since he had started, time had not advanced forward. Instead, it seemed it would only advance after he completed the quest.

"Well… that's useful?" he thought to himself. Part of him felt somewhat giddy as he imagined time standing still during a quest in which he had to peek on the girl's changing rooms. He'd stay in there for hours… Issei blinked as he realized that he'd been daydreaming for a while, only to blanch at the sound of the smoke alarm.

In the end, he only managed to make a rather pitiful looking meal of what seemed to be the burnt sacrifice to a junkyard god.

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Retry?**

 **(Y/N)**

Issei did feel somewhat glad that he could retry cooking, he did however note that his cooking skill had apparently gone up for some reason. He blinked as gears began slowly turning in his head.

Staring at the quest screen, he decided to give it a whirl. "If my life is truly a video game… then let's see if the same logic applies!" a wolfish smirk donned Issei's features as he cracked his knuckles, pushed the accept button and went straight to work.

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Quest FAILED!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

 **Cooking has gone up by 1!**

Several hours of continuously screwing up the quest and repeating it over and over again and leveling up the cooking skill, Issei realized it was actually getting harder to screw it up. He kept trying, and trying, only to realize that he'd actually reached a point in which he _couldn't_ screw it up no matter how hard he tried.

 **Quest Completed!**

 **There's No We In Food!**

 **Gained: 150 EXP, A Nice Meal, Increased Reputation Gains with the Hyoudou, Soul Food, Buff Status: Killer of Meals! Active for 2 hours.**

'Is this game actually mocking me?' Issei thought in slight annoyance, he then blinked and wondered where all the burnt food he'd previously made had gone to, all that was left on the table was a family serving size of the perfectly made meal.

'Wait? What the hell is soul food?' he wondered slightly to himself as he stared at a plate of the meal.

 **A new skill has been created through continuous action!**

 **Observe [Active] Lv.1 has been unlocked.**

 **Through continuous observation of an item, a skill to discover the information of a target has been acquired.**

"What the hell? How in the world did I Observe food?" Issei quizzically asked no one in particular, noting silently as to how he was talking to himself a bit more than usual.

 **A Nice Meal**

 **Quality: Good**

 **A decent tasting meal of a traditional Japanese origin, restores 50% of maximum HP and MP.**

 **Soul Food**

 **Quality: Good**

 **A meal cooked with such passion and finesse, it provides supernatural effects to those who eat it. Grants +2 Luck +1 strength for 2 hours.**

Issei blankly stared at the meal in his front. This was getting a bit too surreal for him. Even the food he ate now seemed to have other effects than just giving him a full stomach. Reluctantly, Issei ate the soul food for himself and packaged the nice meal into a small lunch box which he placed into his backpack. Noting that time had advanced forward, he decided to leave seeing as how he still had at least one hour left to get to school. He was beginning to see the numerous advantages of this new video game ability.

"Oh my! Issei! You made this for us?" Issei turned and noticed his mother beside him in the kitchen, staring with wide eyes at the food in front of her.

"Heh-heh, I just kinda had some free time before I got to school, so I decided to make you some breakfast for once." Issei grinned as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm amazed! I didn't know you could cook!" She stated bluntly.

"Kaa-san! Of course I can, I've been watching you cook for years haven't I?"

"I know I Know." She took a pair of chopsticks as she made a small prayer before staring at him "Are you sure it's edible?"

"Kaa-san!"

"Just kidding dear. Mmhmm! It's good! Well, not as good as mine of course but it's amazing for your first try!"

"Thanks kaa-san. I'll be heading off to school now."

"Alright! Oh and would you be a dear and branch by the grocery shop to get some milk after school? We're all out."

 _PING!_

 **New Main Quest!**

 **For All It's Worth!**

 **Primary Objective: Your mother wants you to get some milk for her after school. Don't forget! Oh and beware of intelligent cats.**

 **Secondary Objectives: Don't let a single drop of milk spill and make sure the milk isn't expired.**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 7500 EXP, Increased reputation with the Hyoudous, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonus Rewards: 200 EXP for every objective completed, ? ?**

 **Failure: 50 EXP, Decreased reputation with the Hyoudous, Possible Death.**

 **(Y/** _N_ **)**

Issei gulped slightly to himself. The no option was grayed out, meaning that he had to accept the quest, the high amount of EXP indicated that there was going to be some danger involved, that and the fact that death was written there as a penalty for failure. Apparently, unlike the cooking one he'd done earlier, Main Quests couldn't be declined. Bracing himself for whatever may come his way, he pushed the accept button and watched the world return to color.

"Thanks dear! And don't forget!"

As Issei walked out of his house, he had a very good feeling that he would definitely not forget.

~~~~~~~~ _DxD – GOTY ~~~~~~~~~~_

As Issei walked down the road to his school, he absentmindedly used his Observe ability on any and every single thing or person he could find. From general items, objects, people and even the environment in general, the ability provided useful information and at the same time completely irrelevant information with some being quirky, others being sarcastic and certain being downright snide. He'd gained two levels in it since then and noticed as it provided slightly more information.

Issei blinked as he realized, shouldn't there be information on himself as well? Quickly, he used a brief Observe on himself.

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 3 [47.61%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 100/100**

 **MP: 50/50**

 **Strength: 9 (+1)**

 **Vitality: 9**

 **Dexterity: 11**

 **Intelligence: 10(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 11 (-1)(+1)**

 **Luck: 8 (+2)(+1)(+1)**

 **Charisma: 0 (-10)(-2)**

 **Statuses: Famous Pervert [-10 charisma, -1 wisdom]. Killer of Meals [+1 Luck]. On the Fence [+ 1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter, ?] Secret Loner [+2 Int, -2 Charisma]. Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game, sleeping in your bed fully restores HP and MP].**

 **Points Available: None**

 **Money: 10000 Yen**

 **Perks: None**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Cooking [Passive] Lv. 15[46.93%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 3[13.38%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [15/1000] Hated**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [200/1000] Hated**

 **Student Council: [155/1000] Disliked**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [455/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

"You're mocking me aren't you…" Issei's eyes twitched constantly as he read his own personal bio. He balked at the decrease being a pervert did to his charisma stat, meaning he had no charisma at all whatsoever. His alignment surprised him as he always thought of himself as a form of knight in shining armor and not someone who went around causing untold mayhem. Then again, he realized that good guys didn't technically go around peeping at girls boobs and underwear.

"Hmm… Occult Research Club? Never even met them… why should I care about them anyway?" he wondered slightly to himself as he examined his stats and focused back on his alignment.

"Chaotic neutral? That's way too close to Lawful Evil." He blinked to himself as he realized that he still remembered the alignments from the good ol' dungeons and dragons games he used to play when he was younger.

"Why do I still even remember…" he blinked as a thought sprung up to his mind. Was it possible, that his Intelligence stat was the reason in which he'd been finding himself particularly knowledgeable these days? He frowned as he then realized that ever since the whole video game life thing had come up, people had been telling him that he'd been acting differently. He'd been calmer, more rational and hadn't even had any urge to watch his x-rated stashes or go peeping. With his two highest stats currently being intelligence and luck, it didn't take him long to put two and two together.

"First of all I'm chaotic neutral, so that can't be the reason I've been acting so different. Which means my best bet is the Gamer's Mind. It grants immunity to all psychological effects, so I'm more lax, I'm rarely ever worried or scared, troubled or nervous. But… what if this applies to lust as well? Is this why I haven't been myself lately?"

Issei wondered to himself as he paused on the road. Nearby pedestrians shook their head at the strange school teen talking to himself in the middle of the road but yet, he paid them no heed as he thought about it.

"I can't feel fear, nervousness, shame, and now, even my lust is reduced. Am I… am I even human anymore?" He asked himself silently, he was supposed to be terrified at the thought, but as soon as the flash of terror entered his mind, it vanished, replacing his mental state with a focused, relaxed state.

He shook his head and focused back on his stats. He'd have to see if he could find a way to switch that ability off, but for now, he'd have to deal with it. He sharply noticed that there were lots of question marks present, meaning that he hadn't found out the identities of those things yet, though there was one thing that bothered him.

"Secret Loner? How am I… a… secret… loner…" Issei paused as he realized how bitterly true that was. Truly, he had no one he could actually call a friend. The two bumbling idiots Matsuda and Motohama he peeked with from time to time didn't even count, as they were actually jealous of him most of the time and didn't bother hiding it. The only reason the hung out was because of their common interests, but now, Issei felt that they were the kind of people he'd never trust his life with. The fact remained, outside of those two, he had technically no one else. He was truly alone.

' _Heh… I thought I was the player? Yet it seemed I'm being played, played by a game that knows me better than I know myself… how ironic._ ' He thought silently.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

' _Now what?'_

 **Through discovery of oneself and recognition of solitude, a status has been unlocked! Secret Loner is now True Loner [+3 Int, - 1 Charisma]**

 **Through repetitive inner-reflection and depressing thoughts, a new a status has been unlocked! Confused Emo [+1 Charisma, +1Wis, Unlocks Emo actions]**

 **Through the act of putting your miserable and pathetic thoughts into words and rhythm, a new status has been unlocked! Dark Poet [Adds 10% of total Luck to Charisma, Unlocks poetic actions]**

' _Alright that settles it, this game_ is _mocking me!_ ' Issei grumbled as he clenched his fists in annoyance.

 _PING!_

Issei was really getting tired of hearing that sound.

 **New Quest! A Time For Everything!**

 **Uh-oh, you've been so lost in your own thoughts you didn't know that so much time has passed! You have less than fifteen minutes to make it on time for class!**

 **Primary Objective: Get to School before the bell rings!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 300 EXP, Increased Reputation Gains with Kuoh Academy, Increased Reputation Gains with Student Council, ? ?.**

 **Bonus Rewards: 100 EXP for every objective completed, ? ?**

 **Failure: 50 EXP, Reduced Reputation Gains with Kuoh Academy, Reduced reputation gains with Student Council, Reduced Academic Performance Rating, Detention.**

 **(Y/N)**

 **NB: Declining this quest will lead to an automatic failure.**

"Holy Shit!" Issei swore as he glanced at his watch, true to the quest, he only had fifteen minutes left to get to class. Hastily he pushed the yes button and ran down the streets as fast as humanly possible.

 _PING!_

 **Through continuous performance of an action, a new skill has been created! Sprint [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **Through the pumping of adrenaline through your system and the acceleration of your feet, you are now able to dash at faster speeds than normal. Costs 2 MP per minute.**

Issei blinked as his head did a quick count. 2MP per minute and he had 50MP meant that he could sprint continuously for twenty-five minutes straight before he ran out of steam. Most people couldn't even run for 10 minutes straight without stopping for air, and even some of the most athletic people in his entire school couldn't think about sprinting for that long without stop.

This power was _so_ broken.

~~~~~~~~ _DxD – GOTY ~~~~~~~~_

"Phew! Made it!" Issei said to himself as he passed through the school doors just mere seconds before the bell went off.

"Just barely."

The teen turned his head to the side, instantly spotting someone standing in a condescending manner as she glanced at him. She was a young bespectacled woman in her late teens with a slim figure, black hair styled in a short bob cut and had vivid violet eyes. A silent Observe later, and Issei found out who she was.

 **Shitori Souna Lv. 26**

 **?**

 **Student Council President**

Issei did his best to hide the surprise that threatened to pop up on his face as he stared at her level. She was level 26! 26! The highest he'd seen so far was a large bodybuilder who was level 5, and then this petite, rather attractive young girl with smooth flawless legs, perky breasts and rather nice… er-hem back on track, she was the highest leveled person he'd seen so far.

 **Through the strenuous task of putting up a blank façade to hide your true feelings of an event, a new skill has been created! Poker Face [Active] Lv. 1. Costs 0.50 MP per second.**

Issei inconspicuously closed the window by pretending to wave his hands as he glanced at the sexy young woman in front of him.

"Ah, buchou, were you waiting to arrive? I'm flattered." ' _What the hell am I saying?'_ Issei wondered to himself as his poker face remained indifferent, but on the inside he was sweating bullets.

"Hyoudou Issei. You've gained quite the track record for arriving late to classes, had you arrived late today I would have had no choice but to write up a detention slip for you."

Issei blinked suddenly as a timer appeared in front of him slowly counting down, and then four options started blinking.

 **Choose Chaotic Response**

 **Choose Neutral Response**

 **Choose Poetic Response**

 **Choose Emo Response**

 **Choose Perverted Response**

 **Note: Selecting none will allow conversation to continue as though you remained silent.**

Issei could have sworn that blood drained from his face as he had no idea as to what to select. Glancing at the timer, he realized he had almost no time left and then quickly hit any option.

 **Chaotic Response Selected.**

'Well shit'.

"You? Write me a detention slip? Me? A detention slip? I knew that you guys had a whole lot of free time in your fancy little offices, but I think the air conditioned rooms and fancy seats must be getting to your heads." He spoke casually.

"Excuse me?" Sona questioned indignantly.

"Well if you actually have enough time to personally come hand out detention slips to students then clearly you've _clearly_ got too much free time on your hands. I wouldn't be surprised if someone walks in one day on you using a paddle to spank someone on the ass. You look like someone who'd be into that sort of thing."

Issei was glad that his Poker Face was still on otherwise he'd have dropped his jaw from the look of surprise and slight embarrassment on Sona's face.

"W-why I'd never!"

'No way… did she just stutter? Did she just stutter?!' "You're lips are telling me know but your eyes are telling me yes. Ah, who was it again? That guy that usually follows you around like a lost puppy?"

 _PING!_

 **Intelligence Check Required!**

'What the hell?'

 **At certain times, in order to continue a certain action or win over a certain person, your stats will be used as the determinant of your success or failure! The required stat will be added by 20, and then divided by 2 in order to gain the required multiplier.**

 **Required Intelligence Multiplier - 10**

 **Total Intelligence Multiplier – 11**

 **Check Passed! Bonus EXP Gained!**

"Genshirou Saji wasn't it? He seems like the kind of guy that would be into something like that."

Issei couldn't believe it when he spotted the light dusting of pink that appeared on the girl's cheeks.

"It'd be a real shame if anyone got to find out that such two upstanding students of the school were doing such perverted acts in an office meant for serious business wouldn't it?"

Souna's eyes darkened as she stared straight at Issei "And who would believe you? The pervert that half of the entire school hates against the Student Council President? It's your word against mine."

Issei laughed, he actually laughed, and found himself going with the flow. "I could pretty much make a bloody living from how frequently I stand outside doors and peep through the holes. Who's to say that I couldn't do the same for your office? And best still…" Issei smirked.

"…Who's to say that I can't get Saji to admit it? He'd probably do so with such passion and convince everyone that you made him do it. Something tells me that all I have to do would be to ask the right questions."

"You wouldn't." she threatened.

"Oh I would. Tell me, how well do you estimate your little friend's ability to keep his mouth shut?"

There was a tense silence in which the two students stared down, Issei ignored the constant _PING_ sounds which had been indicating that his Poker Face skill was leveling up.

"Very well Hyoudou. You've made your point." She stated warily as she glanced at him.

"What do you want?" she asked plainly.

"Immunity from detention." ' _What? Nooo! I wanted to see her panties!_ ' the small, tiny perverted part of him yelled.

"That will be very difficult to get done. Do you know how hard it would be to pull something like that?" she asked in a slightly amused voice.

"Does it look like I care?" Issei responded, his Poker Face giving him the perfect visage of a nonchalant teen.

Souna smirked as she walked away from him "You are not what I at all expected Hyoudou when I first saw you. There's clearly more to you than meets the eye."

"It's always a pleasure to shove people's expectations up their asses." He quipped as Souna walked away laughing.

'Holy hell, I actually made her laugh!'

"Very well Hyoudou, I will be keeping an eye on you then. There are some people, who I feel, I'd like to see their expectations as you so eloquently put it, 'shoved up their asses'"

"Oh my! Buchou such foul language, whatever shall the school do when they find this out?" Issei teased.

"Don't push it Hyoudou, don't push it."

 **Quest Completed!**

 **Primary Objective: Get to School before the bell rings! Completed! Gained 350 EXP!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **Select the Chaotic Response! Gained 100 EXP Bonus! Anarchy's Incarnate! Gained 200 EXP!**

 **Passed the Intelligence Check! Gained 100EXP**

 **Bluff your way to Earn Souna's Respect! Gained 100 EXP**

 **Rewards: Gained Increased Reputation Gains with Kuoh Academy! Gained Increased Reputation Gains with Student Council! Gained Increased Reputation Gains with Occult Research Club! Gained Increased Reputation Gains with the ? Faction! Gained new Ally, Shitori Souna!**

 **Bonus Rewards: Gained new Status! Gambit King [Int+2, Luck+3, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction] Gained Immunity to Detention! [You now have a permanent get out of jail free card anytime you are given a detention by a teacher or hall monitor! Does not apply if given directly by Principal or Vice-Principal]**

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

Issei's eyes did widen this time as he spotted the sheer number of windows that popped up in his vision.

 **Through the use of a blank façade, sheer luck and a little bit of chaos thrown in, an ability to deceive your opponents with bravado has been unlocked! Gained skill, Bluff [Active] Lv. 1. Costs 0.75 MP per second, can be used simultaneously with Poker Face for greater chance of success**.

 **Through deception and confidence, an interaction limited to only those who are neutral or evil on the scale of morality will possibly think of using has been unlocked! Gained skill, Blackmail [Active] Lv. 1. Costs 0.50 MP, can be used simultaneously with Bluff and Poker Face.**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Poker Face has increased by 1!**

 **Bluff has increased by 1!**

 **Bluff has increased by 1!**

 **Bluff has increased by 1!**

 **Bluff has increased by 1!**

 **Blackmail has increased by 1!**

Issei whistled lowly to himself as he grinned at the new skills and interactions. Part of him was feeling extremely grateful that he was chaotic neutral right now. He did frown though when he realized that even with all that, he still hadn't leveled up and was still level 3.

"Stats."

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 3 [77.54%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 100/100**

 **MP: 50/50**

 **Strength: 9**

 **Vitality: 9**

 **Dexterity: 11**

 **Intelligence: 10(+3)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 11 (-1)(+1)(+1)**

 **Luck: 8 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 0 (-10)(-1)(+1)(+1.2)**

 **Statuses: Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game]. Famous Pervert [-10 Char, -1 Wis]. On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter] True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char]. Confused Emo [+1Wis +1Char] Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Char] Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Points Available: None**

 **Money: 10000 Yen**

 **Perks: None**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Cooking [Passive] Lv. 15 [46.93%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 3 [13.38%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [25.89%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 8 [41.67%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 5 [19.54%]**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [450/1000] Hated**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [200/1000] Hated**

 **Student Council: [150/1000] Neutral**

 **Occult Research Club: [999/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [696/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

Issei blinked as he realized that the buffs he gained from the soul food and the temporary Killer of Meals status had both vanished. He quickly remembered that both of those two things were supposed to last for two hours.

"Shit! I'm late for class!"

With that single thought, Hyoudou Issei grinned like a manic as he rushed to class, realizing that with his newfound ability, Kuoh Academy would never remain the same.

Now if only the game could get him laid…


	2. Not Just A Game

**_A/N:_ So apparently people love the video game plot. Who knew? I actually gained more reviews for this story in one day than I did for my other two in almost one week. The love was motivating and as such I decided to upload a new chapter earlier than I intended. Just one thing though, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY I CAN'T SEE MY REVIEWS? Honestly, it's like putting a steel wall between a starving man and a plate of gourmet food. I had to read all the reviews via my e-mail, but the site keeps telling me that I have no reviews even when there's clearly 18 reviews present. Well, if there's any site official reading this, _which I highly doubt_ then please kindly help out, seeing as how sending a complaint to the site has had no effect so far.**

 **Without further ado... I present a new chapter of...**

 **Dragon of Dragons - Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Not Just A Game**

 _PING!_

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

Issei blinked as he sat down in his seat after being scolded by the teacher for being late. He'd been paying attention to the Mathematics lesson and all of a sudden he'd gained an increase in his intelligence stat. An actual increase for once and not just a status or perk, and all he'd done was listen.

 _PING!_

 **Academic Performance Rating!**

 **In the Game of the Year Edition, a new feature has been added called the Academic Performance Rating! This is the sum total of all your grades and accomplishments in the classes you attend during the period of your stay in Kuoh Academy! As common sense would dictate, doing your assignments and projects and handing them in on time will increase the ratings, while skipping classes and failing tests will do the opposite. A high enough rating will grant unique new bonuses, quests, items and status, as well as giving you the satisfaction of being ranked the number one best student in the entire school!**

 **Current C.G.P.A -3.99**

 **Current APR – 104**

Issei blinked as he examined the window and closed it with a silent thought. He was currently ranked as the 104th best student in the entire school. While it might not have been very impressive to some, it was downright amazing to Issei who had no idea that he was ranked that high. There were over 300+ students in the school, so being ranked 104th wasn't too shabby at all.

Issei glanced at the time, zoning out the teacher as he wondered when the agonizing torture of the boring class would end. His mind had never focused on academic activity to begin with, and now, with his life as a game, he wanted to fully explore the abilities granted to him.

He glanced at his table and spotted a book in place. Absentmindedly, he picked it up and scrolled through the contents.

 **Item – Mathematics Book**

 **Level: Intermediate**

 **A book which contains the intermediate level mathematics for students of Kuoh academy, whether or not the knowledge can be applied to something practical remains to be seen.**

Issei grinned at the description. Truly though, he wondered if the knowledge could be applied to something else. He scrolled through the text book a bit more, only for a surprising effect to occur.

 **Through the action of actually reading of a book for once, your Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Through the action of understanding the intricate formulas and techniques used in the addition, division and subtraction of numbers, a new skill has been unlocked! Mathematical Knowledge [Passive] Lv.1**

 **This skill gives you an instant boost to the success of all mathematical problems, at higher levels, it'll unlock new bonuses as well as abilities.**

'Wait… I gained intelligence from reading books, and I can also learn skills from books?' Issei had his gears turning in his mind.

"Awesome!" he grinned as an idea came to his mind.

"Quiet Hyoudou!" the teacher barked at him "Or perhaps, you'd like to come up here and teach the class how to answer the question?" On the board was a mathematics problem Issei had no idea as to where to begin.

 _PING!_

 **New Side Quest!**

Issei swore silently to himself as time slowed down and a timer appeared in his point of view.

 **Choose Chaotic Response**

 **Choose Neutral Response**

 **Choose Poetic Response**

 **Choose Emo Response**

 _Choose Perverted Response_

He noted immediately that the perverted response was grayed out, leaving only four others he could select. A huge part of him was tempted to simply try out the neutral response, as he wouldn't think about ever using the poetic or emo options. But neutrality was sometimes a dangerous thing, so that meant that the outcome could be unexpected.

Chaotic response however had worked out pretty well the last time… If it could get him the Student Council President as an ally, was it really chaotic? Well…

'I suppose it's better to choose the devil you know…' he reluctantly hit the Chaotic Response button once more just as the timer went out.

 **Chaotic Response Selected**

Issei blinked as he found himself standing up from his seat calmly, the entire class gazing at him with a mix of surprise and disgust, he slowly began walking up to the teacher, stopped in front of the man and grinned as he swiped a piece of chalk from the teacher's hands.

"Why didn't you say so! If it'll save us all some time!" Issei glanced at the board and realized it was a twisted combination of Algebra and Pythagorean problematic equation.

 **Intelligence Check Required!**

 **Required Intelligence Multiplier - 15**

 **Total Intelligence Multiplier – 18.5**

 **Check Passed! EXP Gained!**

"Now you see, the problem here isn't the problem, the problem is the problem of the problem." Issei started, while all the while he began writing on the board.

"Tell me, did these old philosophers have so much free time that the only thing they could do was create problems for people to solve?" he asked, while simultaneously answering the question as his hands moved in a manner that was almost practiced, as though he wasn't cracking a complicated mathematical problem with ease.

"Now students have all have the problem of a problem, created by men with no problems in order to solve the problem of their absence of a problem, not even considering the problems caused by their problem of no problem. Can you see the problem with that?" ' _What the_ hell _am I saying?'_

"So now our dearest sensei has asked me to solve the problem meant for the class, in order to avoid the problem that he's a forty year old man teaching uptight brats and earning minimum wage while he could be out there accomplishing his dreams in life."

Issei turned and stared at the teacher as he slowly placed the chalk back in his hands. "So the problem with you sensei, is that you dedicated your entire life to solving the problems created by old men." Issei found himself enjoying the slackjawed expression on the man's face as he did confirm that Issei had answered the question correctly. "Just as how the only benefit of getting a Degree in Philosophy is to help one _think_ _deeply_ about being unemployed, you should have realized that a degree in mathematics is while correct and noble as it is, ultimately, like the problems in the subject itself, it is useless and impractical for someone who dreamt of becoming a rich successful entrepreneur."

With those words, Issei turned around and returned to his seat calmly, stretching backwards as he crossed his legs on his table and placed his hands behind his head as he wore a wolfish smirk. There was something strangely fascinating about watching the entire glass gape at him like a fish out of water while the teacher stared at the piece of chalk in his hand like it had killed his puppy.

"Class Dismissed…" the teacher spoke quietly as he walked out with a raincloud over his head.

 _PING!_

 **Side Quest Completed! Taught the Teacher!**

 **Gained 150 EXP!**

 **Chaotic Response! Anarchy's Incarnate! Gained 100 EXP!**

 **Mathematician's Answer! Gained 50 EXP! Gained increased levels in Mathematical Knowledge!**

 **Problematic Genius! Gained 50 EXP! Gained increased Reputation Gains with Kuoh Academy! Gained increased Reputation Gains with Occult Research Club! Gained increased Reputation Gains with the ? Faction!**

 **Charisma has gone up by 1!**

 **APR Increased! Current Rating 101!**

 _PING!_

 **Through the act of manipulating words and performing actions which will cause your enemies to question your mental state and leave them in awe of your foolishness, a new skill has been unlocked! Mystify [Active] Lv.1 Costs 0.75MP, Has a 20% chance to stun your enemies for 15 seconds! Chance depends on level of enemy and increases when stacked with Bluff and Poker Face.**

'Okay… as fun as that was… I might need to tone down the chaos a bit.' He thought silently to himself as he heard the bell ring.

 _PING!_

 **Anarchy's Incarnate! Chaotic Karma!**

 **Due to repetitive selection of Chaos as your choice of response as well as continuous performance of chaotic actions and deeds, Anarchy's Incarnate will receive double the bonus and you gain x4 EXP from all Chaotic actions! In exchange however, you are now set in 'Chaos Mode' and cannot select any other type of response or activity for the next four hours. Applies Once Per day. Does not stack.**

Issei could have sworn the blood drained from his face as he read that particular notification. The potential EXP benefits were staggering, but the costs could also be great. For the next four hours, he'd be the walking personification of chaos. That was most definitely never a good thing.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he was assaulted by his peeking buddies, Matsuda and Motohama.

"That was amazing!" Matsuda yelled, only saying what was on everyone's minds.

"It was genius, pure and utter genius. Issei! You must teach me how to do that!"

Issei sweatdropped slightly as he suddenly felt the urge to push them away. That, and he didn't have an actual way to explain his abilities. But he sure as hell wasn't going to tell _anyone_ that his life was now a video game. A quick use of Poker Face and  Bluff provided him with the diversion he needed.

"Look! It's Rias Gremory in a bikini!"

"Where!"

"Show me the sexy form of that red-haired goddess!"

Issei swiftly dodged and dashed out of the class room before the duo could realize he was gone. A liberal use of Sprint later gave him the speed he needed to get away from the classroom as quickly as possible.

"Phew… alright from now on I need to be more careful with chaotic actions, it truly is _chaos_." He muttered to himself as he stopped running when he realized that he needed to check up his time table to find out what he had next. He walked towards his locker, which now had **Storage** written on it for some weird reason, and then opened it up to grab his bag. He did however widen his eyes when he found his entire backpack empty.

'What the hell? Where did all my stuff go?'

 _PING!_

 **Inventory!**

 **Your Inventory is your personal space in which you can keep all the items you have gained and gathered in the world of DxD. There are many ways to access your inventory, such as your personal backpack which automatically sends anything you put inside it to your inventory, your closet, wardrobe or certain personal artifacts. Or of course you could just open it by saying Inventory, but who wants to be that lazy?**

"And so the mockery continues." Issei grumbled to himself as he muttered the words "Inventory." He almost jumped back as a larger than normal window appeared in front of his vision, on it were several tiny icons which probably represented items, and a silhouette of a human spread out and wearing the Kuoh Academy Uniform.

 **Inventory:-**

 **Used: 6/1000**

 **Items:**

 **Kuoh Academy Books x 4**

 **A Nice Meal x 1**

 **Badly Burnt Meal x 63**

 **Pencil x 2**

 **Pen x 2**

 **Time Table x 1**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Body - Classic Kuoh Academy Uniform x 1 [Equipped]**

 **Feet - Average School Shoes x 1 [Equipped]**

 **Accessory 1 - Normal Wristwatch x 1 [Equipped]**

 **Accessory 2 – None**

 **Accessory 3 – None**

 **Head – None**

 **Quick Slots Available: 9**

 **Quick Slots Used: None.**

"So that's where those burnt meals I made went to. Hmm… let's see Observe."

 **Badly Burnt Meal**

 **A disaster of food made by an equally destructive chef, and even if it wasn't burnt; it'd still be every food connoisseur's greatest nightmare. It is so terrible that even wild animals would rather starve than eat this mayhem. Extremely High Chance to inflict status effect, Poisoned, Stunned. -10 HP, -10 MP, disables HP and MP regeneration for 5 minutes.**

"I know I was intentionally screwing up the meal but that's just insulting." Issei grumbled slightly to himself before glancing at the remaining items.

'What are quick slots anyway? Are they places I can keep items for instant use?' he thought as he cast an eye on them, and then scrolled back to his uniform.

"Observe".

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform**

 **Defense + 10**

 **State – Good [9/10]**

 **This is the standard male uniform of the Kuoh Academy, while the female version is more pleasing to the eyes, and doubly so when there's a strong gust of wind, the male version is ordinary and plain, just like the wearers. No attachments exist on this item, no modifications have been done on this item.**

'Modifications? Attachments? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder... and why does it feel like this game is set out to mock me at every turn?'

Issei closed the notification before he selected the time table item in his inventory, watching as it appeared in his hand out of thin air. He was glad that he had been facing his locker, otherwise someone would have questioned as to how in the world he had summoned an object from out of nowhere.

"Okay… next class Chemistry… after that I've got Gym class – ah, my personal favorite – and then there's Lunch."

Issei folded up the paper and put it back into his inventory, before closing it as he prepared himself for the remaining activities of the day.

* * *

~~~~ _DxD – GOTY ~~~~_

 **Through the act of mixing, blending and combining your knowledge of ingredients, a new skill has been unlocked! Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1**

 **You can now craft items! A new world of opportunity awaits as you discover more and more recipes and disciplines in which you can craft!**

 **Through the knowledge of chemical compounds and their effects when mixed together, a new skill has been unlocked! Chemical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 1!**

 **You are a mad genius in your own right as you can now create intriguing new items from your knowledge of chemistry! Recipes required.**

 **Gained Recipe! Tear Gas!**

 **Gained Recipe! Stink Bomb!**

 **Gained Recipe! Stink Gas!**

 **Gained item Stink Gas Bomb x 1!**

 **Gained item Chloroform x 2!**

 **Gained item Hydrogen Peroxide x 2!**

"OUT! OUT! ALL OF YOU OUT!" Issei winced as the Chemistry teacher yelled and chased out the entire class.

'Note to self… Chaos and Chemistry don't mix.' He thought as he realized that in hindsight, experimentally creating a stink bomb with crude chemicals on his first try was not going to be successful. Well, not exactly, as he'd ended up creating a gas that permeated with the smell of onions that watered the eyes and caused people to want to cry while at the same time had the odor of rotten eggs and two year old, moldy, stinky cheese. The game system had accurately dubbed it, Stink Gas.

"Hyoudou! This is the second class you've caused to end early today! Do you have some kind of vendetta against the teachers or something?" Issei blinked as he glanced around and spotted the person that had spoken.

 **Murayama Lv. 4**

 **Captain of the Kendo Club**

Issei was somewhat peeved that this girl was at a higher level than himself but said nothing as he raised an eyebrow. Chaos Mode was still activated, so sadly his mind couldn't register anything perverted for the meanwhile.

"More like who _doesn_ ' _t_ have a vendetta against the teachers? They make us sit down all day long with boring classes, give us easy examples but downright demonic tests and exams. It's poetic justice if you ask me."

"You're just lazy aren't you?"

Issei turned and glanced at Murayama's longtime friend, and the girl who was the co-captain or vice-captain.

 **Katasu Lv. 3**

 **Assistant Captain of the Kendo Club**

"It's not laziness, it's selective participation." He countered smoothly "Why are you complaining? If anything, I've given you freedom to go practice swinging around your bamboo swords or something."

"Hey! I won't let anyone make light of Kendo!" Murayama stepped in with barely restrained anger as she snarled at the gamer.

"Please, as though swinging around a bamboo sword has any real use." 'This is seriously not going to end well for me.'

"Of course only you'd be stupid enough to think that!"

"If you have a sword and you're fighting someone with a gun today, you'd be dead before you could blink. Anyone can swing around a wooden stick."

"Oh really? Care to put your money where your mouth is Hyoudou?" Murayama was almost growling at him by this time.

"What's your wager?"

"30,000 Yen and the loser has to do anything the winner says for a week!"

"Just mention the time and place!" 'Gah! I don't have up to that!'

"Lunch Break, Kendo Club, be there or else."

"Deal!" 'I'm dead.'

 _PING!_

 **Challenge Accepted!**

 **Duels and Challenges!**

 **At certain points, you will be challenged to spars, duels or challenges by other people. These are miniature forms of quests and activities that grant EXP depending on the difficulty of the challenge as well as hidden bonuses and rewards! Beware though; the consequences of failing a Challenge are sometimes quite dire, and often irrevocable.**

 **You have been challenged to a Duel by the Captain of the Kendo club!**

 **Main Objective: Show Murayama that Kendo is nothing special by beating her at her own game!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 250 EXP! Increased Reputation with Kendo Club, Increased Reputation with Kuoh Academy, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonus Rewards: 50EXP per Objective, ?, ?, ?**

 **Failure: Decreased Reputation with all Factions and Clubs, Permanent status gained, Bark With No Bite [-2 to all stats], Possible Death.**

Issei gulped within himself as he was starting to realize that chaos also had its ups and downs.

"I hope you've written down your will Hyoudou." Murayama grinned as she walked away from him, already certain of her victory.

Issei said nothing as he walked away, his only saving grace being that he'd still be on Chaos Mode during their fight. Whether or not that would help him was yet to be seen, but he truly hoped it did.

"Wait a minute… if I can learn skills from books, then is it possible that…?" the gears turned in his head as he shot down the corridor, ignoring someone's shout of 'No running in the hallways' as he dashed through the school and eventually stopped in front of the large doors of the one place he never thought he'd visit.

 _PING!_

 **Location Discovered! Kuoh Academy Grand Library! Gained 25 EXP!**

"Alright! It's all or nothing here! Let's get this on!"

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Intelligence has gone up by 1!**

 **Skill Unlocked!**

 **Skill Unlocked!**

 **Skill Unlocked!**

 **Congratulations you have leveled up!**

Hyoudou Issei would not remain the same.

* * *

~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~_

 _BRRRING!_

Issei grinned as he calmly swaggered down the hall towards the Kendo Club. Apparently, quite a few people had arrived to watch the duel, mostly girls due to the fact that all of them wanted to see the legendary pervert being beaten up _legitimately_. Issei almost felt annoyed when he spotted even a few boys in toll and he could swear that even Shitouri Souna was there. He shook his head as he decided that for now, he'd prove himself and back up his own chaotic words. No matter the cost.

Sadly though, apparently even the library had a max cap for him to be able to gain intelligence from, and the more intelligence he gained, the harder it became for him to gain it. He now had to read through at least _five_ books from different genres entirely just to gain one point in intelligence. It annoyed him to an extent as he realized that even though the game system wanted him to get stronger, it didn't want him to mindlessly get there by grinding. The only benefit he had luckily gained was when he found two new skill books, and the fact that reading a particular subject granted him a passive knowledge skill in that area. For all his intelligence points, he was still not certain as to what practical uses most of them had. What was he going to use Mathematical Knowledge for outside of class?

"Maybe I need more wisdom to be able to figure it out." He mumbled to himself before he swiftly took a brief look at his current stats. "Stats."

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 4 [14.51%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 150/150**

 **MP: 75/75**

 **Strength: 9**

 **Vitality: 9**

 **Dexterity: 11**

 **Intelligence: 22(+3)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 11 (-1)(+1)(+1)**

 **Luck: 8 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 1 (-10)(-1)(+1)(+1.2)**

 **Statuses: Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game]. Famous Pervert [-10 Char, -1 Wis]. On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter] True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char]. Confused Emo [+1Wis +1Char] Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Char] Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Points Available: 10**

 **Money: 10000 Yen**

 **Perks: None**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Cooking [Passive] Lv. 15 [46.93%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 7 [22.38%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [25.89%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [21.67%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.34%]**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Mathematical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 5 [58.09%]**

 **Chemical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 3 [13.91%]**

 **Physics Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 2 [67.43%]**

 **Biological Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 1 [29.49%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [39.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [55/1000] Hated**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [200/1000] Hated**

 **Student Council: [150/1000] Neutral**

 **Occult Research Club: [222/1000] Liked**

 **? : [777/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

'That's right! I finally leveled up! Let's see… I have ten points available to assign. Alright let's do this… I'm going to be using a bamboo sword, so my focus for now should be on my strength and dexterity… but I also need to boost my luck and charisma.' After a few seconds of consideration, Issei dumped four points into his strength, three points into dexterity, two points into charisma and one into luck.

He closed the menu slowly and slowly felt energy pouring into his system. 'After school, I'm so going to hit the gym to boost my strength. I feel like I can lift a car!'

Issei slowly walked into the Kendo Club room, Poker Face activated as he spotted a large number of girls and different people all waiting in the background, hell it was as though almost every girl in the school was present, all of them giving him the stink-eye as they couldn't wait to watch him get pounded to a pulp.

'The only way this many people would show is if she'd been telling everyone about the duel.' He deduced instantly. 'Wow. Who knew that being smart is cool?'

"Place your bets here! All bets are here! Make your bets for the fight of the day! We all know who's gonna lose, so why not make it interesting by betting how long it'll take!" Issei growled as he spotted Matsuda and Motohama running a betting pool at the corner, and to his surprise, there was tons of money in their hands as people where actually betting in favor of him losing.

"Oi! What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Issei groused.

"We're using your oncoming humiliation and defeat to turn a profit." Matsuda stated bluntly.

"Come on Issei, when else would people actually be willing to pay to watch you get beat up?" Motohama responded equally.

"Not to mention, from here we can spy on girls panties while looking legitimately serious!" Matsuda added as he and Motohama giggled perversely to themselves.

Issei blinked as an idea sprung up to his head. "Is there anyone betting on me winning?"

Matsuda and Motohama both glanced at him as though he was stupid. "Well, I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to make that bet."

Issei's eyes twitched as he reached into his wallet and slammed 10,000 yen down into their hands. "Do it! _When_ I win, I collect all the winnings of those who bet against me!"

The duo just glanced at him awkwardly but nonetheless took the money "You know, you're already going to lose your reputation after this, are you sure you want to lose your money too?" Matsuda questioned him as he added a separate betting pool for Issei.

"Don't worry about me, let's just say… I have an ace up in my sleeve." Issei smirked as he turned around and walked towards the sparring mat, already spotting Murayama waiting for him in her traditional Kendo outfit.

"Are you ready to suffer defeat?" she asked with a cocky smirk planted on her lips.

"Did we come here to discuss the impossible or to fight?" Issei countered smoothly.

"Fine then." She tossed him a bamboo sword and helmet which Issei caught easily in one hand each. There was a gathering tension in the atmosphere which the gamer teen could feel slowly rising by the second as the betting pool took it's final bets.

"Wait… you're fully garbed in traditional kendo armor, while all I have is my school uniform and a helmet?"

"It shouldn't be any trouble to you now should it Mr. Anyone-can-swing-a-bamboo-sword?"

'Well I'm screwed… and I guess this many people wouldn't have showed up to watch me get beat up if I was going to be fully protected in armor.' Issei sighed to himself.

'Alright… we're both at level four, and she might possess a higher dexterity and an increased defense score than me, but our strength scores should be equal, that and I have the benefit of higher intelligence, which should also contribute to by advantage. With a bit of luck… I may not have to use my ace after all.' Issei thought silently to himself as he put on the helmet, and felt his Beginner Level Kenjutsu skill slowly activate itself in the background. He was a total novice, and had only managed to find that skill book in the library through sheer and utter luck. Normally, he would not believe in luck, but when your life was a video game and luck was actually a stat, it definitely made one believe in it. He did wonder how he would train his luck stat though…? Perhaps gambling? It'd be something he'd focus on after he left school today.

Issei got into the traditional Kendo stance, and even he could feel the surprise that went all around the room.

"That pervert knows Kendo?"

"How is it possible? I thought he sucked at everything!"

Issei's eyes twitched behind his helmet as he couldn't believe how low his reputation was in the school.

"So you _do_ know Kendo?" Murayama questioned, but for some reason her tone wasn't as malicious or as certain as before.

"I dabble." He stated, not giving her any information about himself whatsoever.

After a few seconds of waiting in silence, he felt a very odd vibe coming from the girl, just as it was time for the match to begin.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

' _NOW what?'_

 **Through the repetitive process of staying in the presence of a potentially dangerous person and detecting their malice, a new skill has been unlocked! Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 1!**

 **This is a natural instinct, it allows the user to sense when something bad is about to happen, the higher the level, the higher the range of sensing, the earlier the user can sense the danger.**

 **Through the wielding of a blunt object with the purpose of dealing damage, a new skill has been unlocked! Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1! Grants a 10% increase in attack damage and a 5% increase in attack speed with all blunt weapons! Percentage increases with level up.**

"Well that's useful."

 **The duel is about to begin! Your opponent is ready! There is no set time limit, victory is gained when either one is unable to continue or your opponent is disarmed. WARNING! DO NOT KILL YOUR OPPONENT! Enemies are killed when their HP reaches Zero. Killing your opponent will lead to an automatic loss, as well as life imprisonment.**

'What? So I have to hold back?' he thought quickly as he began making counter strategies.

 **Anarchy's Incarnate activated! Randomizing level and type of enemy!**

'Shit! I forgot all about that part of the ability!' Issei thought frantically as figures and names started spinning rapidly over Murayama's head.

 **Type of Enemy Decided! – Human Swordswoman!**

 **Level of Enemy Decided – Level 9!**

 **Duel Start!**

Issei swore to himself as Murayama launched at him at speeds that he knew she did not previously possess, her bamboo sword coming down in an overhead strike which he quickly blocked with his. The resounding crack was the least of Issei's problems as he could feel his hands sting painfully from blocking that attack.

 **-5HP!**

'Hold back my ass!' Issei swore as he continued to block strike after strike, the resounding echoes of the attack being the only sound in the entire room, as he quickly realized that if he didn't do something quickly he'd lose.

' _Shit! Shit! Shit! She's more than twice my level right now! Screw you chaos! Screw you! You just had to throw a wrench in all my plans didn't you!'_

Issei quickly used Dodge as he realized that blocking was slowly chipping away his HP bit by bit. He avoided an overhead strike, spun his body as he dodged two horizontal stabs to his midsection, and just barely managed to avoid a strike that would have hit his neck as he hit the floor and rolled to his knees coming back up in a semi-crouched position as he positioned his bamboo sword up in a defensive position.

'Damn it, I'm completely on the defensive! What do I do… what do I do!' Issei grit his teeth as a sense of frustration entered his mind only for it to vanish almost instantly as Gamer's Mind removed it from his thoughts.

'Never thought I'd be grateful to that ability… alright let's see, first of all I need to know her current stats. Observe!'

 **Murayama Lv. 9**

 **Race: Human**

 **Type: Swordswoman**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **MP: 25/25**

 **Current Status Effects: Focused**

Despite the situation, Issei grinned, glad that he had leveled up his Observe ability to be able to display more information than just name and level. He took a look at her HP and instantly realized that the only way he was probably going to win was not by defeating her, but by disarming her. She had twice his HP, so unless he had some really damaging attacks that could actually hurt her through that armor and also bridge the gap in levels, he was toast.

'Shit… even the current boosts I gained from Blunt Weapon Mastery seems useless right now. So… how in the world am I supposed to disarm her when she's both faster and stronger than me?' Issei thought quickly as he used a wordless Parry to deflect an incoming attack, leaving the two competitors ended up with their blades locked firmly against the each other, none willing to give in and fall back in the test of strength. Though, Issei found himself slowly being pushed backwards.

"You know, you're not half-bad Hyoudou." Murayama commented as the two wooded swords pushed against each other.

'Now she decides to talk?' "You're not too shabby yourself."

"I should hope so. I've won the Kuoh Kendo Championships three years in a row, I came second in the Tokyo Championship and Fifth in the Japan Nationals. I've been practicing Kendo since I was nine, so of course I _really_ hope you don't find me shabby." Issei could have sworn that the sarcastic comment had chipped away a bit of his HP.

"I am surprised that you've managed to last this long, even though I'm not going all out, you're a bit rough around the edges, but you're actually a decent swordsman".

Issei felt a spark of horror run through his mind as he realized she wasn't going all out. She was holding back.

"I find it hard to believe that you're not going all out. Isn't this the perfect chance to vent out all your sweet revenge on the guy that peeks at you in the changing rooms?" Issei questioned as he felt himself slowly losing ground in the struggle.

"Well sure, but I came here determined to make an idiot who didn't know how to hold a sword correctly eat his own words. I didn't know you could actually fight, otherwise I'd have had you dressed up in armor. I hate you, but that doesn't mean I'll be able to forgive myself if I end up seriously hurting you."

This time Issei couldn't help the surprise that came up to his face "That's… surprising. Why would you hate yourself for hurting me?"

She scoffed slightly as she pushed forward "You're a perverted idiot who peeps on defenseless girls, you're scum, but there's probably worse out there."

"Worse?" ' _Keep talking… buy yourself enough time to think of a plan_.'

"Well so far, you haven't been caught sexually harassing anyone, and though your peeping is wrong, you don't actually try to force yourself on any girl showing your respect for women in your own, sick twisted way." She answered briefly.

"Not to mention that you're apparently quite athletic as well gives you some benefit of doubt. Hell the way you schooled sensei in Maths class today and the fact that you're ranked just below the one hundred best students in the entire school makes me think how smart you'd actually be if you weren't such a pervert." She remarked offhandedly, and in the silence of the room, her voice had echoed as though she'd yelled it on the microphone.

The entire female and male population of students in the room did start thinking over what she'd said and actually found most of it to be true. Honestly, if Issei wasn't a pervert and wasn't so crude he'd be as revered as the "Prince" of the academy Yuuto Kiba. The thought was both unsettling and simultaneously amazing.

"…I think you're overestimating me." Issei stated quietly as he jumped away from Murayama, disengaging their standoff.

The girl in turn simply shrugged. "Who knows. All I do know about you Hyoudou is that there's certainly more to you than meets the eye. You're easy on the eyes and you're actually a pretty decent guy. All I'm saying is that you'd be a better person if you weren't a pervert."

"…Are you hitting on me?"

Issei could have sworn that even the echo of a pin drop could have been heard by everyone in the room at that exact moment.

"LIKE HELL! You pervert!" she charged at him and landed a swift strike to the teen's stomach, his eyes widened to unbelievable amounts as he was sent tumbling over the ground, rolling as he skidded to a stop on the mat.

 **Critical Hit! -75HP**

 **HP: 70/150**

'Shit! One hit took out half of my total HP! If I get hit like that again, I'll be done for… but at least I got what I needed!'

Issei stood to his feet as he felt the pain from the hit vanish as though it never occurred in the first place, knowing fully well that if not for his Gamer's Body ability he would have been coughing out blood at this point. Swiftly, he used a silent Observe on the girl.

 **Murayama Lv. 9**

 **Race: Human**

 **Type: Swordswoman**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **MP: 25/25**

 **Current Status Effects: Flustered, Embarrassed, Distracted**

' _Just as I planned. Now to hit the nail on the head!_ _Bluff!'_ "There's nothing to be so embarrassed about. I also think you're cute."

"Shut up! As if I'd ever hit on someone like you!"

"Then why so embarrassed? Come on, after this dance, let's have a real date?"

"OVER. MY. DEAD. BODY!" she roared with a red face as she charged him with an overhead slash threatening to crack open his skull.

Issei grinned as he prepared himself for the incoming attack. His intelligence score was working on overdrive as he gripped his kendo stick in anticipation.

 _PING!_

 **Through your greater-than-average intelligence and understanding of Physics and Mathematics, you have finally found a practical use for those subjects and gained an insight to the workings of the force of the world!**

 **Observe has been upgraded! Now activates faster and can be used continuously! Costs 0.50 MP per minute! Observe has gained three levels! Observe can now calculate the trajectory, velocity, distance, size, time, energy and temperature of all items and objects!**

' _Thank you formal education!_ _Observe!_ ' Issei's eyes cleared as he suddenly felt that he had been viewing the world in poor quality all his life and was now seeing it in High Definition. Numbers appeared within his vision as he could actually calculate the speed and force as to which Murayama was attacking him. The angle of depression of her strike would inch her closer to the left, and upon meeting no resistance, she'd stumble slightly, those few seconds would be critical if he wanted to take advantage of the situation.

'3, 2, 1…! Now!' Issei ducked and rolled, Murayama descending on the spot which he'd been earlier with slight surprise as she'd met no opposition and stumbled with her footing.

Issei wasted no second as he activated Sprint for a burst in speed as he reached her in seconds, his bamboo sword stretched backwards just as his Observe dictated in order to generate the maximum amount of force needed. His aim was her hand, as soon as he struck her hand, the force would disarm her and declare him the winner of the duel.

 _PING!_

'What the hell?'

 **Chaos Mode! Chaotic Response automated!**

"Terms Accepted." Issei's eyes widened as soon as he uttered those words, terms accepted? What terms? What had she said last…

Horror flashed in his eyes.

In every calculation of probability and in every problem ever solved by application of physics and mathematics, it was done on the assumption that there was no other external force changing the rules, and the objects were static. If calculating the distance of a car going at 200 miles per hour, you'd obviously assume that the car was going at that pace constantly. However, in the real world, the calculation would not be exact because the car would have to slow down at sharp turns and stop at traffic lights.

In this particular scenario however, Issei forgot that he was being dominated by the impulse to perform chaotic actions which he could not control, just as he forgot that Murayama was also capable of performing actions that would completely screw up the calculation. By the time he realized these facts, the girl had adjusted from her unbalanced position and turned her face towards him.

And he'd never forget the look of total shock that flashed into her eyes.

 _THWACK!_

Issei's eyes widened as his strike had missed his intended target of her arm completely and struck her across the face like a giant bitch slap. The way he'd struck was similar to how a baseball player or golf player would hit their respective balls, his waist had been twisted to maximize the impact, as he'd been fully certain that the strike would be felt through her thick gloves and armor and completely disarm her. Unfortunately, due to the unexpected occurrence of chaos, he'd struck her head, struck her head like a baseball player would do a ball. Even with the helmet, he knew that she'd felt it. Hell, even if his Observe skill wasn't still activated, he knew from how her head had snapped to the side that he'd seriously hurt her.

 **Chaotic Bonus! CRITICAL HIT!**

There was a moment of stunned silence as Murayama stayed on her knees for a few seconds before she collapsed to the ground, bamboo sword falling out of her hands.

 **Murayama Lv. 9**

 **Race: Human**

 **Type: Swordswoman**

 **HP: 2/300**

 **MP: 25/25**

 **Current Status Effects: Stunned, Shocked, Critically Wounded**

"Murayama! MURAYAMA!" Katase yelled as she ran onto the mat, removing her friend's helmet in desperation. Murayama's eyes were pale and looking empty as she coughed up some blood, still trying to put up a smile.

"Hehe… crafty bastard got me good." She put up a strained grin as she stared into space.

"Murayama! Speak to me! Are you okay?" Katase cried out as several other Kendo club girls got over their shock as they surrounded her.

"I guess… he won." Murayama spoke weakly as she coughed out some more blood and passed out on the floor.

"MURAYAMA!" Katase yelled out in frustration as the girls were confused from the shock of seeing their captain lose.

Issei stood in silence as he stared at the kendo stick in his hand, unable to believe he'd done that much damage from a single strike and had nearly killed someone. Yet… yet, his Gamer's Mind made him feel completely calm about it, as though it didn't matter as to how he'd nearly killed a fellow human being, a cute girl no less.

He was turning into a monster.

He wanted to rush in and help her, but with his Chaos Mode still on, he wasn't sure as to whether or not he'd only make things worse.

It was only until Yuuto Kiba himself came in to save the day, carrying Murayama into his arms and rushing off to the nurses office did everyone else snap out of their stunned states.

"Are you happy now?" Katase spat out bitterly "You won. You've proved that kendo is nothing to the almighty Hyoudou. I hope you're a happy ' _winner._ '"

She tossed the prize money over to him and stormed out of the dojo/club, most likely heading towards the nurse's office.

As Issei held the prize money in his hands and gazed at the blotch of blood visible on the mat, he couldn't help but think.

He felt like the loser.

 **Challenge Completed!**

 **You have been defeated the Captain of the Kendo club!**

 **Main Objective: Show Murayama that Kendo is nothing special by beating her at her own game! Completed! Gained 300 EXP!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **The Battosai! Defeat Murayama in one hit! Completed! Gained 50 EXP!**

 **Fast Fingers! Disarm Murayama to win the Duel! Failed.**

 **Serpentine! Do not receive damage during the spar! Failed.**

 **The Underdog! Defeat Murayama when she's on a higher level! Gained 500 EXP!**

 **Master of the Blade! Complete all Objectives for a huge EXP Boost! Failed.**

 **Rewards: Gained Increased Reputation with Kendo Club, Gained Increased Reputation with Kuoh Academy, Gained Increased Reputation with the ? Faction, Gained Increased Reputation with Occult Research Club, Gained Increased Reputation with the Student Council! Gained 30,000 Yen!**

 **Bonus Rewards: Status unlocked! Famous Pervert is now Infamous! [+2 Wis, +2 Char] A new skill has been unlocked, Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1, A new skill has been unlocked, Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1, Costs 25 MP per use, a technique that always guarantees a critical hit with any blunt object, hands and fists apply.**

Issei closed the notifications silently, not even the new abilities interested him whatsoever as he slowly walked up to Matsuda and Motohama, swiftly collecting all his winnings, apparently being the only one to have actually bet on himself winning.

 **Gained 64,819 Yen!**

"Look at him! So stone cold! He doesn't even care that he almost killed her!"

"But, wasn't she the one who challenged him in the first place?"

"That doesn't give him the right to hurt her like that!"

"Did you hear what he said then? He said 'Terms Accepted' after she swore that she'd only go out with him over her dead body!"

"What? That's really creepy… that guy's dangerous!"

"Shhh! He just beat the best Kendo master and one of the best athletes in the entire school! In one hit no less! What'll he do to you if he hears you?"

Issei ignored the biting words and scathing remarks of gossip that circulated around him, some good, some bad, and some hung around the middle, but the fact remained that he was the topic of discussion on the lips of every student.

He didn't care about it all, he simply walked out the door without a care in the world and decided to find a place in which no one would find him.

He needed some time to think.

It seemed that despite the appearances of the things around him, one fact was definitely certain.

It was no longer a game.

~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~_

 **Issei's Current Stats:**

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 4 [34.32%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 150/150**

 **MP: 75/75**

 **Strength: 13**

 **Vitality: 9**

 **Dexterity: 14**

 **Intelligence: 22(+3)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 11 (+1)(+1)(+2)**

 **Luck: 9 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 3 (-1)(+1)(+1.3)(+2)**

 **Statuses: Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game]. Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char]. On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter] True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char] Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Char] Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Points Available: 0**

 **Money: 94,819 Yen**

 **Perks: None**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Cooking [Passive] Lv. 15 [46.93%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 10 [45.31%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [25.90%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [21.67%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Mathematical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 5 [58.09%]**

 **Chemical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 3 [13.91%]**

 **Physics Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 2 [67.43%]**

 **Biological Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 1 [29.49%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [49.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1 [1.23%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [333/1000] Neutral**

 **Occult Research Club: [555/1000] Liked**

 **? : [888/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **: Well then, this was a tad darker and longer chapter. Mostly because most Video Game style fics don't focus on the story at all or the psychological effects becoming a gamer possesses. My goal is originality and uniqueness, so I hope this goes on well. Anyway, this story is Rated M and is a DxD Xover fic, so there will be lemons and lime, I will not put any warnings, and this is the final warning. Also, next chapter will have some ecchi scenes to add a bit light-hearted humor as well as rather... perverted moments into the fic.**

 **In other words, don't read it in a public place. Trust me, it was embarrassing to read one of EvilFuzzy's fics in a public bus and i jumped into a lemon scene that made me wait several minutes before i could safely walk out.**

 **Tell me your complaints, admiration, or whatever you feel like saying. Just as long as you drop a review... which I'll have to read via my e-mail. Damn site error.**

 **Happy New Year Folks! R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	3. The Grand Entrance of a Little Kitten

_**A/N:**_ **So... many... reviews! I have never felt more loved before in my brief three weeks of writing fanfiction! This was originally the second story I've ever written, before No Longer the Avatar, and yet it is my most favorited and reviewed! I went from 18 reviews to 50+ in just a few days and now I have almost a 100+ followers! Thanks so much guys! This means so much to a guy who started fan fiction thinking I sucked at writing... I'm almost the worst Literature student in my class, so I doubted my own ability.**

 **Anyway, thanks to all those that reviewed, secondly, please I have not stressed this enough, this is a Smart!Issei and eventual Powerful!Issei fic, and it's a Video Game Fic, in which ONLY the major protagonist views it as a game. The world is still real. Pairing is Harem, but chances of Rias being in it are next to none. Finally, this is an M-rated Fic, so don't flame if you suddenly come across a lime or lemon. And Yay! The Review Page is working again!**

 **Also, to those who feel that Issei is OOC, please note that this is AU, and there's the fact that Issei has no real backstory as to why he's a pervert. Please kindly correct me if I'm wrong seeing as how I'm not up to date on recent events.**

 **Lastly, for real now, Since the DxD world is so diverse, I've decided to throw in Elements from other worlds and franchises which can actually fit perfectly into the DxD world without much trouble. Need a hint about it? the Norse Gods exist in DxD... so who's to say the Greek Gods don't as well?**

 **Now, without any further ado...**

 _ **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**_

 ** _Chapter 2_**

 **The Grand Entrance of a Little Kitten**

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Issei stared blankly at the sky as he lay on the school roof. He wasn't running from anyone or anything, but he was waiting, waiting for the timer to finally end. He glanced at his wristwatch and then counted down three seconds. Once the countdown had ended a notification came up to his front.

 _PING!_

 **Chaos Mode Deactivated!**

 **Gained 4500 EXP!**

 **Unlocked Achievement, Karma Demon!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Congratulations! You have reached level 5!**

Issei grimly closed the window as he sighed to himself. His Chaos Mode had finally worn off and had granted him a large EXP boost to Level 5 but he honestly wondered if it was truly worth it. To have seriously injured someone and cause untold chaos wherever he went in exchange for some strength. So far, he'd skipped the rest of his classes and noticed as his APR dropped by one point, most likely not falling more than that due to a high intelligence stat.

He just realized, thanks to the aforementioned intelligence stat, that being chaotic neutral was extremely dangerous more so than any other alignment. It basically worked this way, Chaotic Good people would perform Chaotic actions geared towards the betterment of themselves and the people around them, their methods might be questioned, but it was all for a just cause. Chaotic evil people however simply performed chaotic actions geared towards evil for the sake of nothing but evilness. They enjoyed the suffering of others and had disregard for other sentient life. Chaotic neutral on the on other hand was geared towards _either_ good or evil. It had no set boundary, as neutrality could switch sides whenever it wanted. Thus, there was a constant 50/50 chance of performing a Chaotic evil action anytime he did something chaotic.

It was nothing short of a miracle that he had actually not performed any other chaotic evil action before now. Apparently luck seemed to also have a factor in that 50/50 chance, and his luck was good, but it wasn't _that_ good.

All he knew was that he wouldn't be using any chaotic response in the mean time, hell he'd probable just remain silent most of the time in order to avoid any form of response. Maybe he'd even dye his hair black and start speaking in one liners.

He snickered slightly to himself at that one.

Who would he tell that would believe him? That wouldn't call him crazy? That he knew well enough to trust his life with?

There was a sense of frustration that was bothering his thoughts as he felt that this secret was one that he couldn't tell anyone. Not because they wouldn't believe him.

But rather because he had no one to tell.

"I wonder what having friends truly feels like." Issei mumbled to himself as he lazily watched the clouds go by, the only friend he remembered having was a young and rather effeminate boy around his age when he was younger, but he couldn't even remember his name.

Issei blinked when he realized that he was expecting an intelligence check to come up and when none did he was left stumped. The game was messing with his head, the entire world around him was real, and only he could perceive it as a video game, so unlike other people, he didn't bleed nor did he have lasting injuries, however, they didn't have the same fortunate ability. So he could actually kill people, all the while believing he was playing a game. How twisted was that?

"A video game that influences my actions and decisions while yet making me stronger and smarter… talk about messed up."

He'd been questioning the issue of the game. It was both a blessing and a curse, and yet, it was changing him. In the span of a single day, it had changed him more than he thought possible. He'd never fought with a sword before today and yet, he'd defeated someone who'd been training for years. It was an ultimate cheat tool, a wet dream of every gamer in existence. It made him question as to whether or not he was even still human.

"I don't even feel guilty about what I did. I'm a monster."

"You look human to me sempai."

Issei's eyes widened as he sat up and turned around, spotting a petite girl behind him, slowly licking an ice cream bar. He automatically used Observe as an instinctual response.

 **Koneko Toujou Lv. 19**

 **Titles: ?**

 **Kuoh Academy Mascot**

 **Race: ?**

 **Alignment: Neutral Evil**

 **HP: 950/950**

 **?: 750/750**

 **?: 600/600**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

Issei quickly noticed three important facts about the petite girl. One, she was level 19, the second highest level he remembered seeing so far. Two, he couldn't read her race, that was probably the greatest clue that she was not normal. Three, she had no status effects. None at all. That was slightly unnerving.

There was also the fact that she was neutral evil, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Issei wasn't sure how to start the conversation, a 'who are you' would be redundant, he already knew who she was. A 'what are you doing here' would also be somewhat pointless, this was a free school after all, so she could go anywhere she goddamned please.

"So… you're not scared of me? You know, Hyoudou Issei, the guy that used a girl's head as a baseball about two hours ago."

"It'd take more than that to scare me sempai." She responded equally as she gazed at him with those emotionless eyes.

' _Damn… why isn't this girl's alignment True Neutral? Those eyes of hers sure are the most neutral I've ever seen._ '.

"So… here I am sitting with Toujou Koneko… and I'm not even doing anything perverted. Something is _seriously_ wrong with me."

"You've heard of me Sempai?"

Issei mirthlessly chuckled "I don't think there's anyone in school that hasn't heard of the legendary grand entrance of the little kitten."

"…Don't make boring puns with my name sempai."

Issei winced slightly at the 'boring' remark and went back to silently laying down, staring at the clouds passively. School would almost be over, he'd be done with this nightmare, he'd go to the grocery store to get the milk he promised his mother, and put the events of the entire day behind him. He wanted to sulk about it, to whine and complain that the ability wasn't fair, that he didn't want it. But he'd be lying to himself, for all its faults, the ability was amazing. For perhaps the first time in his life, Issei felt that he was actually _living_ instead of just being a passive observer in the game called life. He'd never truly faced any real challenge before, and now, he was getting them in rapid succession.

"What are you thinking of sempai?"

Issei didn't even blink as time slowed down and options began blinking in his vision. He'd somehow gotten used to it by now.

 **Choose Chaotic Response**

 **Choose Neutral Response**

 **Choose Poetic Response**

 **Choose Emo Response**

 **Choose Perverted Response**

Issei sighed as he decided to go for something he hadn't chosen before.

 **Poetic Response Selected.**

"About what exactly I'll have to say to you to get you to leave me alone." He stated bluntly.

"Do you really like being alone sempai?"

Issei felt himself freeze at the question. Did he truly like being alone? Wasn't he always alone anyway? Didn't the game classify him as a loner?

"Heh… I've never given much thought into it." He stated quietly.

Issei glanced into her eyes, despite how completely devoid of emotion they were, he could tell that she was still listening with rapt attention.

"Well… I guess I like eating alone and drinking alone." He started slowly "I like riding the bus alone and walking home alone. It sets my mind free and gives me time to think." He spotted her skeptic raise of the eyebrow when he said think, and retorted by childishly sticking his tongue out.

"Yes I do think."

"I didn't say anything sempai."

Issei mirthlessly grinned as he continued "But…" he paused as he found himself struggling to continue.

"But what sempai?"

"But…" Issei cast his gaze into the slowly moving clouds "…when I see a mother with her child, a girl with her lover, or a friend laughing with their best friend…"

"Even though I like being alone…" Issei paused.

"I don't fancy being lonely."

 **Achievement Unlocked! The Sound of Solitude!**

Koneko said nothing. She simply soaked in his words, soaked in his thoughts. She found it both intriguing, and yet, uninteresting. She glanced at him with a strange look. "You wouldn't be so lonely if you weren't a lecherous pervert, sempai."

Issei chuckled to himself "So I'm an unrepentant pervert. Big deal. I enjoy watching girls change in the showers or rooms, I love the sight of a female form! I think boobs are kami's greatest gift to mankind and I feel women are the most beautiful creatures on the face of the planet. I admit it, I'm a pervert. But… At the very least I've never tried to hide it."

Issei glanced at the sky, asking himself silently as to why he was pouring out his mind to this girl. He supposed there was just something about her that he could relate with.

"I don't pretend to be what I'm not nor do I hide my passions. Most guys in this school have the same things going through their minds, but the difference between I and them is that you already know what to expect from me, but you'll never know if the 'kind gentle guy' you're on a date with is ready to drug you."

Issei sat up straight as he gazed at the girl directly into her eyes surprising her with the ferocity of his stare "Hell, I may be a pervert, but I'm sure as hell never going to be called a hypocrite."

There was a moment of stunned silence, Issei's eyes sparkled with a certain intensity that he had not seen before. Koneko simply stared at him with the same blank look which she always possessed, her ice cream bar almost completely finished.

"So sempai, you would rather call yourself a monster?" Issei winced sharply as she called him out.

"It's what I am. I hurt someone... badly."

 **-10 HP!**

"Ow damn it! What the hell in the world did you hit me for?" Issei groaned as he rubbed his head which the girl had smacked with her fist.

"I just hurt you sempai. Does that make me a monster as well?"

"It's different. I almost killed her…" Issei balked as Koneko cracked her knuckles and made a choking motion with her hands.

"So if I almost kill you, then am I a monster sempai?"

"Nonononono! No! I mean yes, I mean whatever the hell is the correct answer! I like living and breathing please!" Issei pleaded and sighed in relief once he saw her settle down.

"Sempai, the key word there is _almost_ you almost killed someone, but it was by accident, and that doesn't make you a monster."

Issei stared at the girl with something akin to wonder and amazement, and perhaps just a little bit of infatuation, which he quickly buried under a layer of common sense. He was being lectured by someone much younger than him, and she was driving home a mean point.

"Do you feel sorry for what you did to Murayama sempai?"

Issei allowed himself a moment of silence. The fact was that the Gamer's Mind made him unable to feel negative psychological effects, so he couldn't feel regret. But, deep within him, irrespective of his mental state, he truly was apologetic.

"Yes." He swallowed hard "If I could go back, I'd have stopped myself from ever making that move."

"If you were a monster sempai, you'd feel happy, or worse, you'd feel absolutely nothing. Monsters have no remorse sempai, nor do they have guilt. So sempai, you're not a monster…" she paused, as though for dramatic effect, she neatly dropped her wooden stick and then continued "… you're only human."

Issei glanced at the young girl in his front with a open amazement. She was so innocent and emotionless, yet, she seemed to understand emotions better than anyone else he had ever met. She was emotionally smart, and in her own way, her bluntness was both appealing and simultaneously pragmatic. And for some whatever weird reason, he was actively refraining from thinking any perverted thoughts about her. Never before in his entire life had he respected _any_ girl to the point he did not think dirty thoughts about her.

"You're _beautiful_." Issei rasped out, he found himself speaking without restraint, and for once, he did notice her eyes widen at his words, though her face refused to display any other emotion.

It was only seconds after he realized this that he found himself about to embrace the petite girl in an endearing hug. She froze like the ghastly silhouette of a frozen mime, as she spotted the pervert leaning in to hug her.

 **-50 HP!**

Issei's eyes widened to comedic effects as before he could even think about touching her, he had felt a fist slam into his stomach with enough force to send him skidding more than five feet away from her.

"I didn't say you could touch me sempai. You're still a pervert."

Despite his pain, Issei smiled as he realized that thanks to her pep talk, he would visit the nurse's office eventually to see how Murayama was doing. He really hoped whatever damage he did wasn't permanent otherwise he truly would not forgive himself.

He glanced back to the petite young girl who seemed to be finishing up the last of her ice cream cone. He could have sworn that he spotted a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks despite her stony expression.

Issei got up and wiped the dust from his pants as he prepared to leave.

"Where are you going sempai?"

"Well, anywhere from here. My current reputation is so messed up right now that if someone else had seen what just happened they'd assume that I tried to force myself on you or something… that and I'm sure you probably don't want to be seen anywhere near me in public."

"There's no way you could force yourself on me even if you tried sempai."

Issei couldn't quite ignore the shudder that had run through his entire body at the thought. ' _The level of certainty in the way she said that is just too creepy…_ ' She had a point though; her level was so far away from his that the possibility of him even defeating her was next to impossible.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"I won't go out with you or be your girlfriend sempai."

"Not that!" Issei sweatdropped, a part of him wondering why the comment had stung so much "Why did you come up here to meet me? I mean, we've never even met until today."

"I didn't come up here to meet you sempai. This is where I usually eat my lunch." There wasn't the slightest twitch in her facial expression, and Issei wasn't sure if that meant she was being honest, lying, or what exactly she was lying about.

"Lunch? What… lunch…" Issei blinked as he spotted several wooden sticks neatly piled up beside the girl. ' _How many of those things has she eaten?_ '

"Why would you come up here to eat your…?" he trailed off before he finished. He didn't need her to answer the question, her eyes, no matter how blank they might seem in order to avoid any emotion, even he could notice how it lost whatever mirth it had previously had.

Issei supposed that it should have been more obvious, from her frosty persona and deadpan responses, to being objectified as the perfect symbol of cuteness and innocence. Unlike Issei, who endured solitude due to being true to himself, she endured solitude _because_ she _couldn't_ be true to herself.

If there was anything the Hyoudou had learned about being a loner, it was that loners weren't alone because they enjoyed solitude, it was because they had tried to fit into the world before with all their eccentricities and met with nothing but disappointment. In such a way, they were kindred spirits, two people on the opposite sides of a spectrum, one adored by everyone and the other hated by everyone.

Together, alone.

' _Dear Kami I'm never choosing Poetic Response again, all this deep thinking is giving me a headache.'_

Issei shook his head to clear his thoughts. However, there was one particular thought that had sprung into his mind which he found extremely difficult to ignore.

"Is something wrong Sempai?" she had easily noticed his slight distress, and Issei being Issei, partly being unsure as to how to proceed, went for the bluntest statement he could think of.

"You're not exactly human are you?" no sooner than the words left his mouth had he regretted it.

It was for a fraction of a second, but with the Observe ability activated, he spotted her eyebrow twitch and her pupils shrink in surprise. Those two things were the only indicators of shock on her face, nothing else, she hadn't made a single other facial expression. It was as though she was permanently using the Poker Face ability and had maxed it out to a level in which not even Issei could reach.

"That's mean sempai." She said nothing else as she turned around, and walked down the flight of stairs back into the school, leaving a rather shame-faced Issei standing alone on the roof.

' _Great… way to make an ass of yourself Hyoudou_ ' Issei thought sarcastically as he heard the final bell for the day ring, shaking his head as he prepared himself for what he was going to do next.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **New Ally Unlocked! Toujou Koneko! Gained 100 EXP!**

 **Gained Increased Reputation with the ? Faction, Gained Increased Reputation with the Occult Research Club.**

 **The Guarded Castle! You and Koneko gain a 25% Increase in Defense when near each other!**

 **Those Who Know Loneliness! You, Koneko, ? and ? Gain a 35% Increase in Defense, Damage and Attack Speed when near each other!**

' _This again? Wait a minute… Koneko is a member of the Occult Research Club?'_ Issei thought to himself silently as he closed the notifications.

He'd been gaining an increased standing with that club for a while even though he had no idea why, and now he was liked by them, though he'd only ever met one member of the entire club. Something seriously weird was going on that he did not quite understand.

' _Sigh and she was cute too… well, I leveled up didn't I? Might as well get this done before I leave._ ' "Stats."

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 5 [64.32%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 150/200**

 **MP: 100/100**

 **Strength: 13**

 **Vitality: 9**

 **Dexterity: 14**

 **Intelligence: 22(+3)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 11 (+1)(+1)(+2)**

 **Luck: 9 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 3 (-1)(+1)(+1.3)(+2)**

 **Statuses: Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game]. Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char]. On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter] True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char] Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Char] Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Points Available: 10**

 **Money: 94,819 Yen**

 **Perks: None**

 **Perk Points Available: 2**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Cooking [Passive] Lv. 15 [46.93%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 10 [45.31%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [25.90%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [21.67%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 1 [81.04%]**

 **Mathematical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 5 [58.09%]**

 **Chemical Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 3 [13.91%]**

 **Physics Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 2 [67.43%]**

 **Biological Knowledge [Passive] Lv. 1 [29.49%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [49.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1 [1.23%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [333/1000] Neutral**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Liked**

 **? : [919/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

'Alright time to allocate my points… wait I have perk points? What are perks?'

 **Perks**

 **Throughout your play, you'll gain certain perks and unique abilities that will enhance the gameplay even further! These all offer permanent boosts and some even grant entirely new skills!**

 **Perks Available:**

 **Ancestor's Blood**

 **Lord of the Gambit**

 **King of Jokers**

 **Mr Renaissance**

 **Gutsy Pervert**

 **Eyes of the Hawk**

 **Beast of Youth**

 **Golden Rage**

'… _shouldn't there be more information on these?_ '

 **Ancestor's Blood:**

 **This unlocks a power long forgotten by time and an art long lost to history. The world will shake at your presence, as the forgotten blood of the greatest of men will return to the world. Grants a permanent + 100HP and +50MP and unlocks several new abilities.**

 **Requirements: None.**

' _Well that's informative_.' Issei rolled his eyes. ' _Next!_ '

 **Lord of the Gambit:**

 **Ever heard of Gambit Roulette? Well, as the Lord of the Gambit you are the king of this game. You are unable to lose at gambling or any luck related activity and this perk adds 10% of the total sum of your stats to your luck while granting a 50% bonus in the success of all social interactions and luck related activity. You also gain a 5% permanent EXP boost to all quests and monsters completed or slayed.**

 **Requirements: 10 Luck, have Unlocked Gambit King Status, Achievement: Karma Demon.**

' _Now this is useful! Let's see what the rest are before I choose this._ '

 **King of Jokers** :

" **Why so serious?" You play the ultimate fool while in reality you are smarter than the king. You lure in people with sincerity and cheerfulness but can as easily stab them in the skull with nothing but a playing card. The ultimate joker, a man who no one knows what he's thinking. Gives a permanent + 15 to Charisma once every level, grants 35% bonus chance to craft Mayhem Class items, 75% Bonus chance to crafting Legendary Quality Items and a 100% attack bonus to all enemies on a higher level than yourself. Also unlocks Joker actions. Beware though, The Joker is not always funny.**

 **Requirements: Achievement:- Karma Demon, Chaotic Nature, Infamous Status and 15 INT.**

' _The boosts this perk has are insane, but there's still no way in hell am I ever choosing this. Next!_ '

 **Mr Renaissance:**

 **You are the epitome of talent and ability! You are the Jack of all Trades who became the master of all trades. You are the envy of the world, and the reincarnation of Da Vinci himself. Eliminates MP Costs for all non-combat related skills, grants 50% EXP boosts for all non-combat related skills, grants 75% Chance of success to crafting, 15% Chance to craft an item of Legendary quality. Unlocks all 'art' related skills. Unlocks new statuses.**

 **Requirements: 20 INT, 15 DEX, 15 WIS, Possess at least 7 Non-Combat skills, Any Loner Status.**

' _I am so choosing this!_ ' Issei could have sworn that his mouth was watering at this point. ' _Any loner status? What's that supposed to mean? Solitude equals Intelligence? That sucks._ ' Issei sighed as he kept reading, not willing to skip over any one.

 **Gutsy Pervert:**

 **You are not a pervert, you are a SUPER pervert! The ways of the pervert are strong in you, now you not only gain a bonus to perverted interactions, you now gain a permanent + 2 Strength, + 2 Dexterity and + 2 Vitality for every successful perverted action. Women find you more attractive and might be turned on by your deeds, leading to an increased performance in bed. Beware however, your actions** _ **will**_ **be perverse and more so than mere peeping on girls.**

 **Requirements: Neutral or Evil alignment, Chaotic nature. Perverted character.**

' _So… tempting….!_ ' Issei shook his head as he realized that he wanted to select this option so badly. ' _If I choose this I could become much stronger from simply doing perverted things!_ ' he had to urge himself to continue reading as scrolled on.

 **Eyes of the Hawk:**

 **Ever wanted to use a dagger to defeat a swordsman? Or perhaps take down an alien warship with nothing but a bow and arrow? Look no further, as you are now a legend with the blade and bow, all form of swordsmanship and archery is nothing to you as a true master. You gain + 5 strength and + 5 Dexterity when wielding a sword or bow as well as 50% bonus in attack speed with either one. You also gain the ability to see extremely far distances as though it was directly in front of you.**

 **Requirements: At Least one unique Sword style, Defeat any Swordsman or Woman in one hit.**

' _Useful… but not really practical, it's not like there's anyone out there I'll have to fight or something._ ' He hummed to himself as he scrolled past it.

 **Beast of Youth:**

 **You are an unstoppable, unbridled force of pure youth! You gain 50% EXP boosts to all Taijutsu styles and a permanent +15 to strength and +10 to dexterity! Punches and Kicks have explosive power as you can shatter rocks with your fists and kill men with your kicks! Also unlocks Bonus and Special Abilities to all Goken Style techniques. You will gain a Special Move: Sunset of Youth which stuns and horrifies all enemies within a 20 mile radius!**

 **Requirements: 15 STR, 15 DEX, Chaotic or Lawful Nature.**

' _What's with all the fighting perks? Does this game plan to make me keep beating people up?_ ' Issei scrolled to the final perk on his screen.

 **Golden Rage:**

 **KA! ME! HA! ME! HAAAA! You have unlocked a powerful new form achieved only by a distant race from far away! The lower your HP and more damage you take, the stronger you become! You gain a x4 boost to all your stats when facing any opponent on a higher level than yourself! However, with great power comes great responsibility, as you can lose yourself to rage and become unable to distinguish friend from foe.**

 **Requirements: 25 STR, 20 VIT, Lawful Good Alignment.**

' _Well this is definitely out… I don't even know if I can change my alignment_.'

Issei spent a few seconds in silent contemplation before he made up his mind. He closed the perks screen and began allocating points. He put in four points into wisdom, one point into dexterity, two into vitality, two into charisma and one into luck.

He opened up the perk screen once more and realized that his mind was torn between Mr. Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert and Lord of the Gambit.

' _Here goes nothing_.'

 **Mr. Renaissance Selected. Are you sure you want this perk?**

 **(Y/N)**

 **Mr. Renaissance Perk accepted.**

"Well that leaves Gutsy Pervert or Lord of the Gambit…" Lord of the Gambit was useful, and it would undoubtedly come in handy… but he was Hyoudou Issei. No matter how high his intelligence score was, he would always remain Hyoudou Issei.

 **Gutsy Pervert Selected.**

 **Are you sure you want this perk?**

 **WARNING! This is your last perk point for this level, after selecting this, the available perks may or may not be changed entirely when next you gain perk points to spend at Level 10.**

'What!' Issei began questioning his choices… but it seemed that he'd made up his mind.

 **Gutsy Pervert Accepted.**

 **You have no more Perk Points to spend.**

Issei sighed in contentment as he closed the notifications, ready to leave for the day, only for something else to pop up entirely.

 _PING!_

 **You have selected a perk which grants you knowledge you did not previously possess nor had any means of obtaining. The knowledge is now uploading, a restart will be required once upload is completed.**

"Upload? Restart?" Issei wondered in confusion before his body went rigid as information poured into his mind like gushing water from a faucet. Someone else who was knowledgeable with the experience would compare it to the feeling of a thousand shadow clones popping at once, the memory input being near maddening. Issei however, had nothing to compare it to and could only let out a mad scream as he collapsed onto the ground, the influx of knowledge knocking him out cold.

* * *

~~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~_

 **Elsewhere…**

While the gamer was asleep, the world did not pause and wait for him to regain consciousness, instead it moved on its own accord.

Such was the case with the two extremely busty women who stayed together in a shower, one with brilliant, crimson hair which was eerily reminiscent of the color of blood, while the other had much darker shade of hair that could almost be considered as the color of midnight.

The woman with crimson hair was a beauty that could not be put into mere words, her legs were a ripe creamy shade with an athletic tone that displayed someone who spent time at the beach and ensured to get the appropriate level of exercise. Her thighs possessed just enough fat to be considered slim and attractive, but not enough to be considered overly large. The patch of red hair which hung just above her most sacred of places proved that it was indeed her natural hair color, and yet it added a rather sultry appeal to her naked figure. Her stomach possessed a nice hourglass shape and a perfectly smooth, flat surface which contrasted with her twin perky mounds of flesh which adorned her chests. They were like watermelons, round, firm and possessed a nice pink hue around the nipples which were slightly hard, not that the woman would ever admit being aroused by the thought of sharing a bath with another girl.

This woman was Rias Gremory, also known as the current heir to the house of Gremory of the underworld. She was a distinguished pure-blooded devil, and one at a relatively high class due to her inherent power. In school however, she was simply known as one of the two great nee-samas of the academy. She was the most popular student in the entire Academy, whether or not this was due to her beauty alone was yet to be seen.

The other woman in the shower was however possibly as attractive, her skin possessed a slightly darker shade as indicated by the smooth, curvaceous shape of her legs which extended into a rather generous bub that appeared as flawless as it was the day she was born. Her stomach was level, but however possessed the faintest outline of pectoral muscle which allowed it to look slightly healthier as it eased downwards, displaying the patch of dark hair that hung above her valley of truth. Her breasts however were rather generous, a gift given due to her rather unique parentage and origins, they were firm, reminiscent of perfectly rounded balloons, showed absolutely no signs of sagging just like her counter-part. However, unlike her counterpart, the dark nipples were fully hardened from obvious arousal. She had no problems displaying her bi-curiosity even more so considering that she wasn't human, and as such, the human prejudices did not bother her in the slightest.

This woman was Himejima Akeno, the faithful Queen of the Gremory's Peerage. She was the second pair of the great two onee-samas of Kuoh Academy, and she was a woman who had been described as a living example of Yamato Nadeshiko. She possessed the elegance and grace of a priestess, no movement was wasted in her actions and her personality was like that of a highly refined Japanese woman. Behind that persona however, there existed a woman with a sadistic streak and a fondness of getting under people's skin, as well as someone who enjoyed the thrills of bondage.

"You know I can wash my back by myself Akeno." Rias stated slowly as she allowed the warm water from shower to fall on their bodies, Akeno was behind her and she could feel the woman's breasts against her back, especially her hardened nipples which made the Gremory slightly excited. Not that she'd admit it of course.

"Of course buchou, but I felt it's been _so_ long since we last took a shower together." Akeno responded slowly as she washed her longtime friend with a sponge, applying the soap to key areas she knew would have the most effect very slowly.

"Especially after what happened last time~!" the woman teased slightly.

Rias was glad that her friend couldn't see her face, otherwise she'd have teased her more about how it was slowly turning to the shade of her hair.

"That was a mistake… we were young… curious." She replied slowly as she remembered the occurrence at least four years ago. At the developing stages of puberty, they already had generous B-cups and as such during a bath session together, Rias had kissed Akeno to find out what it would be like to kiss another girl. She hadn't expected Akeno to respond so much fiercely however, and it led to an intense make-out session with lots and _lots_ of groping and fondling. Thankfully, they had both realized what they were doing in time and stopped, otherwise they would have both lost their virginity to each other at that moment.

Rias felt that it was her fault for initiating the kiss, and she may or may not have made Akeno into a bi-sexual. She felt doubly so for Akeno's rather eccentric love of pain and bondage, as it had all started after that particular event.

The one event that her Queen would never let her live down.

Rias never admitted that she had enjoyed it, or that Akeno telling her that she was an amazing kisser was a compliment that made her heart leap and set her blood pumping.

"Ara ara, that's so cold buchou." The Himejima whispered playfully.

"It was a mistake Akeno." Rias repeated, unsure of who she was trying to convince, her friend or perhaps, herself.

The black-haired woman smirked playfully as she groped her friends large breasts in her hands, enjoying the squeal of surprise and pleasure that she emitted.

"You certainly didn't think it was a mistake when my tongue was-"

"I remember it clearly Akeno! _I was there_!" Rias sharply interrupted, unable to hide the embarrassment in her voice this time around.

"Fufufufu… alright buchou, though it's so much fun to see you look so flustered." Akeno commented lightly as she removed her breast from her Master's back, enjoying the sight of the slight shudder than ran through Rias's body.

"We're all alone buchou, I still can't believe that Hyoudou-kun could be so troublesome... Kiba-kun is occupied with Murayama, and as for Koneko…" Akeno's hands ventured freely as they groped Rias's bountiful butt, slowly rubbing the fleshy backside as she heard a slight muffled moan come from the red-haired woman.

"I truly trust you buchou, but I honestly don't understand your reason behind sending Koneko-chan to seduce Hyoudou." Akeno's hands had ventured past the backside and went towards the front as they help washed the patch of red hair that lay above the Gremory's valley of truth while ever so slightly teasing the valley itself by washing around it, but never quite touching it.

"I'll explain o-once Koneko-chan returns and once you stop trying to s-seduce me~!" she ended the sentence with a gasp of air and a whimper of pleasure as Akeno had nibbled her earlobe and gave it a long, sultry suck.

They were both clearly aroused, only that they were both on the opposite ends of the spectrum on their feelings. While Rias was trying to deny and ignore her arousal, Akeno was struggling to prevent her arousal from making her do something she'd regret. She was only teasing Rias right now, but it would be so very easy for her to turn that teasing into something much more. It would be unbecoming of her image as the Queen of Rias's Peering to suddenly grab her King and give her a long, chaste kiss with oh so much tongue. Simply being naked in the bathtub with the red haired devil was enough to set her loins aflame, and it took immense willpower to prevent herself from using her fingers to relieve her lust.

The event which had occurred years ago might have been a simple line in Rias's book, but to Akeno, it was an entire chapter. Akeno found herself developing feelings for her Master that she knew wasn't supposed to be normal, nor to exist between two females. However, Rias was her first kiss, and she longed once more to feel the sweet taste of her masters tongue… and of course of the beautiful valley between her legs, but that would be another thing altogether.

Honestly, Akeno found herself falling for her Master, it was both frightening and at the same time exhilarating. Her worst fear would be for her to confess her feelings, only to realize her master did not feel the same way.

It would completely break the dynamic of Rias's peering and make things awkward for the two best friends. And Akeno would never forgive herself if she let that happen.

So for now, she'd drop an innocuous comment here, a perverted gesture here and lots and lots of seduction here and there, and hoped that it would be enough. For no matter how much Akeno enjoyed pain, she never, _ever_ wanted to feel the pain of a broken heart.

She'd felt enough of that in her life already.

The two girls heard the door open and paused, glancing through the curtains of the shower to find the only other female member of their club.

"I'm back buchou." If she was at the very least even bothered by the fact that the two girls were having a steamy bath together and that Akeno's hands and position heavily suggested that the two had been having sexual relations she did not show it.

"Koneko-chan, how was Hyoudou? Hope he didn't try to do anything uncouth to you now did he?" Akeno asked mirthfully as she stepped out of the bath tub, smirking slightly as she heard Rias give a small sigh of what sounded like a blend of relief and disappointment. Akeno took no time in noticing that stepping out of the shower fully naked with her body still dripping wet had drawn some sort of attention from the girl as she gave a short, but clearly rather envious gaze at her chest and figure. Having such well-endowed mammary glands tended to draw attention, whether or not the attention was always positive was yet to be seen.

"… he tried to hug me."

A playful smirk came up on Akeno's face while a surprised look appeared on that of Rias. "And…?"

"I sent him flying."

Akeno could have face-faulted at that exact moment as it was not the progression she was expecting. Akeno simply sighed and grabbed a towel as she watched the only Rook of the peerage take a seat and grab a bowl of candy treats, apparently not answering any more questions.

"Buchou, I understand that you want to make Issei a member of your peerage, but why have Koneko approach him? I could have easily as gone as well and gotten the same results."

"You wouldn't have." Rias answered her question as she grabbed her towel and began cleaning herself off.

"Ara ara, buchou, are you underestimating my ability to seduce someone like Hyoudou-san?" the question had been asked playfully, but there was a hint of steel to it.

"Not at all Akeno." Rias calmed her as she dried off her hair "Hyoudou is a rather… complicated individual. I had assumed early on that he was a simple-minded pervert, in which I could easily beguile… but Sona-chan had disproved that theory of him quite easily."

Koneko's ears perked up as she listened, and even Akeno had stopped halfway from putting on her black thong as she contemplated her master's words.

"Apparently, he had once spied on her disciplining Genshirou Saji, and had proceeded to blackmail her with that information into granting him a permanent immunity to detention." Rias slowly put on her own underwear, while it wasn't as revealing or as daring as Akeno's tight black thong, her red and black lacy panties still possessed a certain appeal to them.

"Are we talking about the same person here buchou? Hyoudou-san doesn't seem like the type of person to do something that… dark." Akeno ignored the slight shudder of pleasure that had run through her body as her thong dug into her womanhood and created a rather sensual feeling.

"At first I was skeptic, but then I heard that he'd one-upped a teacher in class while acing a difficult question, and then realized that his academic grades are actually quite high, and then there was his rather interesting _fight_ with Murayama." Rias slowly put on her bra, which she sometimes often went without and paused to give a side glance at Akeno who completely disregarded the bra entirely, letting herself feel more comfortable without the restraints.

"Someone like that can't _possibly_ have changed so much in a day, so most likely he's been hiding his true character behind a mask of perverseness." She stated slowly, obviously no human being could have changed that much, that quickly, so the most obvious conclusion was that the Hyoudou they all thought they knew was nothing more than a façade.

"If that was truly the case, Koneko is the best one to approach him. He'd be wary of Kiba-kun and would most likely fight him than reason with him, if you Akeno had approached him, he'd be suspicious as to why someone as refined as you would actually be interested in him. Doubly so for myself, if I had approached him, he'd instantly sense the fact that we had an exterior motive."

Akeno had finally gotten fully dressed in her uniform once more, though her nipples were visible through the fabric, she did not pay it any heed as she easily put two and two together.

"Ara ara, that's rather shrewd of you buchou. So, why was Koneko the best person to approach him?"

Koneko herself said nothing as she also waited for the answer, slowly sucking on a lollipop as her eyes seemed to fix on Rias. The idea of seducing someone was both foreign and unnerving to the younger girl, though she'd never show nor admit it. Seduction was Akeno's and to a lesser extent, Rias's thing.

"There's no way he can possibly tell what she's thinking and also with his current reputation in the school down the drain, he'd also have to refrain from putting on his perverted façade around her, as not only is she younger but she's also iconic, so he'd realize that putting on his perverted face would only make him appear worse." Rias stated as she completed her school outfit by putting on her skirt, having already gotten used to the short length that barely reached her thighs and could provide a panty shot at the slightest gusts of wind.

"No matter how it might seem the contrary, Hyoudou-san is a loner, he has no friends nor does he have any acquaintances. It's his one weak point we can focus on, as he'd most likely open himself up to whoever can help him fill the void of loneliness. So he'd clearly open himself up to a younger, attractive girl who would not judge him for anything."

"As such… having Koneko-chan as a friend would make things easier to convince him to not only join the club, but also join the peerage. It would both solve his issue of reputation and of loneliness at the same time. Statistically speaking, the odds of him refusing will be very low."

There was a moment of silence in which the females of the group drank in the information, only for it to be broken by Akeno's giggling. "Fufufu… I am surprised with this side of you buchou, you'd manipulate Hyoudou's Achilles Heel by using Koneko as the Delilah to his Samson. All just to bring him to your side, while making him think it's his choice, allowing you to gain a potentially powerful member of your peerage for the sole aim of ending your engagement…" she licked her lips slowly "… _how savage_."

Rias for all her beauty and appeal did not feel one single drop of regret or even a slight hit to her conscience as she constructed an elaborate plan to manipulate the heart and mind of a lonely young boy.

"Akeno, we are _devils_ after all. After Sona told me about the incident, she also made it quite clear that she wants him in her peerage, so it's a competition between the both of us to see who gets him first." She glanced at her servants with a mischievous smile "And I hate losing, to her of all people."

"Buchou, there might be one problem with that plan." Koneko had quietly sat through it all, like she was in most meetings and activities, she did not speak until spoken to or unless she felt it was absolutely necessary. She did not have a problem with her task, she had no choice, it was an order from her king and she was required to obey.

It did not matter at all to her the state of the boy that was a pervert, but yet was one of the loneliest people she'd seen. It did not matter as to how she'd be seducing a chivalrous pervert who had tried to hug her and yet, who somehow managed to understand her. It did not matter as to how she was to become his friend and something more, to make someone who had known loneliness for so long think he has finally gained a true companion, only for it to be nothing more than simple manipulation.

Hyoudou Issei was a pervert who openly admitted he was a pervert, he was someone who was an open book but had trashed aside because no one could relate with him entirely. He was someone who was honest and yet, he was noble.

"And what would that be?" Rias asked curiously.

Hyoudou Issei did not matter to her at all. Koneko could feel less than nothing for the teen. She felt he was a nuisance and he was clearly overhyped. He was a lecherous soul who peeped on and disturbed the privacy of so many innocent girls so leading him on and pretending to be attracted to him was nothing more than karma.

"… _when I see a mother with her child, a girl with her lover, or a friend laughing with their best friend…"_

" _Even though I like being alone…" Issei paused._

" _I don't fancy being lonely."_

Yet… yet… whenever she remembered his words, those true words he had uttered as he poured out his mind, she couldn't fight off the feeling of crushing guilt.

"I can't seduce Hyoudou-san."

Rias and Akeno glanced at each other, their eyes communicating on a level that did not need words.

Slowly, but very surely, Rias tried to hide the steel in her voice which leaked through as she asked "Can't or won't?"

Her response was subtle, her voice even lower than it usually was, as for the first time in her life, she questioned her sanity of disobeying her king simply for the sake of a boy.

And then she remembered why.

" _You're beautiful."_

She had been called cute, she had been called cuddly, but no one in her entire life had ever called her _beautiful_ with so much passion, that every single syllable of those words echoed in her heart.

More than anything, more than anything in the world… she did not want the only person in the world who had called her beautiful… to _despise_ her.

And with that thought, Koneko Toujou rose her head high and stared her King straight in the face and finally spoke her mind.

"Won't."

~~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_ Okay so I lied about the light-heartedness a little. I'm EMO alright! I love dark things! Don't JUDGE ME!**

 **Cough. Er-hem. So, humiliating myself aside, here's three quick questions, has anyone tried a AkenoxRias or RiasxAkeno pairing before? Even one-sided? And not of the lemon variety please. If yes, and I mean a serious pairing and not just as side-chicks in a harem, then I'll probably toss the idea. If no, then... Yuri Fanboys or FanGirls will probably love this.**

 **Hell, has _anyone_ ever tried a KibaxAkeno or KibaxKoneko or KonekoxAkeno or KibaxRias? Seriously people there's an infinite possibility of pairings out there.**

 **Two, has anyone actually tried breaking up a peerage or true companions before? Is there any fic out there that has the peerage dissolve due to internal conflict?**

 **Three, So Much Fanservice. How do authors write things such as panty-shots and ecchi bath scenes without gnawing out their own eyes? I can watch it a-ok, but writing it is so much _harder._ No pun intended. Also, why do people think Rias is perfect and infallible? I never really understood that.**

 **Please note that this is not filler, every event in this chapter has a role to play in the plot... even the bath scene parts, _especially_ the bath scene parts...**

 **People keep asking when Naruto will be seen, you finally have your answer, it's in the next chapter.**

 **And Finally, since College resumes in four days, my update scheme will drop to perhaps once or twice a month. Take heart, I've only got three more years to go... before I start working and paying off the loans... God real life sucks. Now I wish I was Issei.**

 **R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	4. Angels and Humans

_**A/N:**_ **Woot! Alright, so I'm almost at the 100 Review Mark and that's amazing! I have two more days left before college resumes, so I'll try to pump out chapters as fast as I can before then. NOTE: I have not stressed this enough, this is a Smart!Issei and eventual Powerful!Issei fic! Also, no matter how many powers or skills Issei has, he is still Level 5, and you can't beat Trihexa by playing a Violin. Though it would be epic to watch you try.**

 **Also, there's a semi-lemon/lime in this fic. I weighed whether or not I should put it up, until I googled, 'Creator's Responses to Rule 34' and read that the creator of High School DxD actually promotes people to create hentai doujins of his work, and the ONLY reason he hasn't put up his own is because of his Editors and what-not. So, here's to you buddy!**

 **If you have any problem with the sexualization of women, then you should not read this chapter. Then again, if you had problems with women being sexualized you wouldn't be watching DxD in the first place.**

 **Also... someone pointed out that Issei does have a backstory for his pervy-ness and Greek Gods are actually canon in DxD. Took the wind out of my sails.**

 **P.S. There's a shout-out and reference to some shows in this chapter, and I'm going on the assumption that they exist in the same universe. Bonus points if you spot them all.**

 **Alright, without further ado... I give you...**

 _ **Dragons of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition**_

 ** _Chapter 3_**

 ** _Angels and Humans_**

 **Two hours later…**

 _PING!_

 **You have slept on the cold hard floor, HP and MP 10% restored!**

Issei groaned as he sat up from the floor, his blurry vision slowly clearing as he gazed at the slowly setting sun in the distance. School had most likely been over for a while, he was probably the only one left.

 _PING!_

 **New features added! New database unlocked! New Updates Installed! Would you like a brief tutorial on the recently added features?**

 **(Y/N)**

Issei wasted no time in selecting the Yes option, watching as an entirely new screen he had never seen before pop up.

 **Due to a selected Perk, all Knowledge skills have been combined and separated into two categories, Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 19 and Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 21.**

 **New skills have been unlocked such as Art Mastery (includes but not limited to Writing, Painting, Cooking, Sculpting, Tailoring, Blacksmithing and Woodworking). Musical Mastery (includes but not limited to Singing, Violin, Piano and Guitar instrument playing and Composing). Science Mastery (includes but not limited to Anatomy, Medicine, Botany and Zoology). Dance Mastery (includes mastery of dance, manners, etiquette, social and physical grace.)**

 **Note: Some Skills are interrelated and performing activities in one skill can have an effect on another. Such as Major: Art and Art Mastery which go hand in hand.**

 **Also Note: Having a skill does not automatically make you a master in that aspect, each skill begins at a low level and will have to be trained up in other to attain true Mastery. In other words, you're not perfect you spineless pervert.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

Issei closed the message a bit more mind-blown than he had been before. He had the knowledge of the proper way to hold a violin in his head even though he'd never seen a real one in real life before. He suddenly gained the ability to understand sheet music, whereas he never thought it possible. He knew how to write in Iambic Pentameter, how to paint a surrealistic work, how to sculpt a statue, how to mend a suit, how to forge a sword, how to sing, how to give a massage, how to take care of a wounded animal and how to apply first aid. He knew how to play soccer, baseball, basketball, and several sports that he had never even heard of. All of this and more, all popped up in his head, the information swirling in his brain.

' _This power… is frightening_.' Anyone would normally be surprised or at least be jumping into the air in joy and glee, but Issei found it to be somewhat scary and unfair. Not unfair to him, but to the whole world. People who had trained for years on end with blood and sweat, would easily be beaten by someone who only trained for a week at most, and thanks to a video game life, he would be far better than they would be.

Issei couldn't help but imagine just how powerful his ability would be in the hands of a terrorist organization. The world would be doomed.

Hell, he probably didn't even need to go to school anymore, he could simply go train his skills and then become a professional musician or a famous artist, or hell even both.

The question he did wonder, was why the world had chosen him to give this ability, had he been less morally sound, he'd have used his power for a more nefarious purpose. As frightening as the thought was, Issei could barely think about the ramifications much longer as the familiar lull of his Gamer's Mind ability threw it out of his thoughts.

That ability was both a blessing and a curse.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Non-Combat skills no longer Require MP!**

 **New status unlocked! Through your knowledge of almost all things about almost all things, you have gained a new status, Patron of the Arts! [+2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, unlocks Savvy Response and interactions].**

 **New status unlocked! Through the knowledge of world, you have gained a wisdom and flair that allows you to be charming and impressive, if you actually chose to. You have gained a new status, Reluctant Gentleman! [+3 Charisma, + 2 Wisdom, unlocks both Gentleman and Snarky Responses and interactions.]**

 **NEW PERK UNLOCKED!**

 **Ambidextrous!**

 **You are now ambidextrous and in addition to being capable of using both hands for any activity, you are now able to dual wield any weapon of your choice, provided the weight is relative to your strength. You also gain a 50% increase in attack speed while dual wielding any weapon. Adds +10 to Dexterity and +5 with every level up.**

 **Requirements: Bonus Perk – Can only be Unlocked with Mr. Renaissance.**

 **Achievement Unlocked: Renaissance Man!**

 **Achievement Unlocked: Two for the Price of One!**

 **Your newfound knowledge grants a boost in your confidence! Charisma has gone up by 5!**

 **Your new found knowledge grants a boost to your Intelligence. Intelligence has gone up by 8!**

 **Your new found knowledge makes you select smarter choices. Wisdom has gone up by 10!**

As soon as Issei closed the windows, he felt himself get lighter and slightly nimbler. The greatest change though, was that he found himself with a certain urge to grab a puzzle of any kind and tackle it.

Shaking his head, Issei decided to take one last look at his stats before he left the school.

"Stats."

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 5 [64.32%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **MP: 100/100**

 **Strength: 13**

 **Vitality: 11**

 **Dexterity: 25**

 **Intelligence: 30(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 25 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 10 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 10 (-1)(+1)(+1.4)(+2)(+3)**

 **Statuses: Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game]. Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char]. On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter] True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char] Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Char] Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]** **Patron of the Arts [+2 In** **t** **, +2 Wis], Reluctant Gentleman [+3 Char, +2 Wis]**

 **Points Available: None**

 **Money: 94,819 Yen**

 **Perks: Mr Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert, Ambidextrous**

 **Perk Points Available: None**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 10 [45.31%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [25.90%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [21.67%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 2 [45.91%]**

 **Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 21 [34.09%]**

 **Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 19 [23.10%]**

 **Art Mastery [Passive] Lv. 3 [0.89%]**

 **Musical Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [1.21%]**

 **Science Mastery [Passive] Lv. 2 [15.07%]**

 **Dance Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [3.04%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [49.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1 [1.23%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [333/1000] Neutral**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Liked**

 **? : [919/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

~~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~_

"I'm sorry Hyoudou-san. Murayama-san was referred to Kuoh General Hospital a few hours ago."

Issei winced slightly. He had fortunately caught up with the school nurse just before she entered her car and left for the day. When he had found her office locked and the Infirmary devoid of any students, he feared the worst. "I see… what exactly was the issue?"

The nurse shrugged, and of course, with her being an 'average' looking woman of Japanese origin and a nurse at a High School no less, it came as no surprise to Issei when the blonde woman's large breasts which were barely held in her uniform bounced with her motion. Her uniform's short length did provide some ample view of her pink panties and her long legs and stockings added greater appeal to her shape.

' _Is it just me, or is every single thing in this world perversely exaggerated?_ ' Issei managed to keep on a straight Poker Face as he checked out the school's nurse, though with his high intelligence, he felt as though the entire world was designed to add titillating scenes at every turn, but putting nothing bluntly explicit.

"Well I suppose a Cervical Fracture is enough grounds to be sent to the hospital. She got lucky though, had her neck shifted any further than that she would be dead."

Issei's eyes widened almost in tandem with the nurse's though it was for completely different reasons. "Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that. The whole student confidentiality thing was one of the reasons I lost my last job!" she said frantically.

Issei glanced at the woman, noticing time slowing down to a certain extent as options appeared in his vision.

 **Mini-Responses!**

 **With the new update, a new feature has been added! These are options you can choose depending on your available social skill set!**

 **Use Blackmail – Blackmail the Nurse into getting certain 'benefits' from her.**

 **Use Bluff – Pretend that you heard nothing from her at all.**

 **Use Mystify – Baffle her into running a psych evaluation on your sanity.**

 **Unavailable**

 **Unavailable**

 **Unavailable**

With only three options on his plate, Issei quickly went for the one least damaging, and selected Bluff.

"I didn't hear anything at all from you Mariwaka-sensei. What were we even talking about?"

The woman in question gave him a stare "We were just discussing Murayama's…" she paused at the obvious intimidating stare that Issei gave her, before a metaphorical light-bulb went off in her head.

"Oh! I see. Of course Hyoudou, you heard nothing from me." She giggled as she entered into her car and closed the door.

"Thank you Hyoudou-san, if you ever need anything from me, _anything_ at all, feel free to ask~!" she gave him a wink as she had emphasized the word 'anything'.

She blew him a kiss, and Issei just sighed as he waved his hand at the woman as she drove out of the parking lot.

' _In 3, 2, 1…_ ' was the woman was both out of range and earshot, his Poker Face deactivated and Issei had to pinch his nose hard as he could have sword that he was about to be sent flying by a nosebleed.

' _Wait… Can I still have nosebleeds when I have a Gamer's Body status?_ '

 _PING!_

 **Status Information: Bleeding. [-10 HP per minute] Can be cured by Medical Items, Potions or sleeping in a bed. Duration of effects depend on gravity of the wound.**

 **Note: Status effects apply, and if you are shot by a gun, stabbed by a blade, nailed in your limbs or shaved by sentient sword, you will attain the bleeding status effect. However, due to the upgrade in the Game of the Year edition, while possessing** **Gamer's Body** **you will not lose any actual blood from your system, though you will still die if your HP reaches zero. It makes absolutely no logical sense whatsoever and throws all form of anatomical knowledge into the trash can, isn't that fun?**

' _Ah yes… I was wondering where the game's sarcasm went to._ ' Issei grumbled to himself as he began walking towards the town.

He sighed to himself as he realized that with his powers, his original dream of becoming a Harem King would actually be easily within his grasps. But the question was whether or not he still wanted it.

As Issei gazed at passerby's with his head occupied with thoughts, he remembered Murayama's words about him possibly being a better person if he wasn't such a pervert. They were true, to a large extent, but did Issei truly want to give up his perverted ways?

Issei slowly realized that every response he ever selected or every option he ever made actually did represent an aspect of his personality, a part of him that was either normally locked or dormant, or perhaps suppressed due to peer pressure.

It _had_ been fun to blackmail Sona. He had once thought about it, several months ago before the whole gaming thing. He wished he could have blackmailed her on a certain occasion, but he had neither the will nor confidence to go along with it.

He _had_ wanted to upstage that teacher, the man kept accusing him of cheating, implying that someone who was used to peeping at girls without getting caught should also be good at peeping at exam or test scripts of other students. He never believed that Issei did his assignments or tests by himself, and Issei had held a silent grudge against him for that reason.

And of course to a certain extent, he _had_ wanted to injure Murayama. This was the girl who beat him with Kendo sticks for peeping, there were even occasions in which he hadn't joined Motohama and Matsuda in their peeping, but he still got beat up in exchange simply for being near them. He wanted her to feel the shame and humiliation of a crushing defeat, as well as to be on the other end of the stick for once. Issei had once gotten home to pull his shirt and spotted several bruises all over his skin from the beatings, and once, a particularly nasty one had fractured his wrist. He didn't tell anyone of course, least of all his parents. The beating was shameful enough, but the broken hand was just injury upon insult.

So deep within him, he _had_ wanted to break something in turn.

The game was bringing out the aspects of him he had thought that he buried deep, deep within. It was surfacing all the factors of his thoughts and weakness. When he had thought about the game knowing him better than himself earlier, he had no idea as to how right he was.

Issei paused in the middle of a bridge to stare at the setting sun, absentmindedly realizing two things, the first being he'd chosen a road he usually didn't follow for the first time, and no one was seemingly in the vicinity. The second and most important was as he realized that this newfound knowledge and understanding of the game's mechanics did not previously come to him.

' _So those intelligence and wisdom stats aren't for show after all'_ he chuckled slightly to himself as he stared at the fish swimming in the water below the bridge.

The question now however, was whether or not to follow his perverted ways. Would he abandon his perverseness and let it rot in the abyss of his mind? Or will he keep it, and in spite of everyone else, become a legend with it.

He had told Koneko that he was a pervert, but not a hypocrite. So now, did he want to go back on his word? Issei felt slightly conflicted.

 _TING!_

Issei froze as he felt a shudder run up his skin, as though something wrong or bad was about to happen. Instinctively, he turned around to the face the area in which he felt the tingle, quickly spotting a young girl slowly approaching him.

 _PING!_

 **New Main Quest!**

"Excuse me… you are Hyoudou Issei from Kuoh Academy aren't you?"

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

As he had begun to recently do when meeting new people, he muttered a silent Poker Face and Observe under his breath and enjoyed the familiar lull that came with the abilities, doubly so since they no longer required MP to use.

' **Yuuma Amano' Lv. 15**

 **Race: ?**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 750/750**

 **?: 450/450**

 **Current Status Effects: Amused, Playful, Predatory**

' _Oh snap._ ' Issei thought to himself as he calmly replied "Yes that's me. Can I help you with anything?" his mind was quickly analyzing the fact that her race wasn't human, her level was three times higher than his, she was currently predatory and her alignment was lawful evil. Evil didn't really mean much as Koneko was Neutral Evil but yet she seemed to be a decent person, but there was the issue of her status effects and the fact that his ability to Sense Danger went up by two levels simply from sensing her coming.

His Observe ability noted that her school uniform definitely wasn't the Kuoh Academy uniform, and the obvious fact that she was an attractive young woman with seemingly innocent appeal. Her breasts were generous, but Issei had seen larger and the skirt was just short enough to leave the rest to his imagination.

"Are you going out with anyone?"

Issei's left brow rose slightly at the question, no one, and he meant, _no one_ in his life had ever asked him that question.

"No I'm not." He stated frankly, and he honestly didn't expect that fact to change anytime soon.

"That's great!" she paused, appearing to be struggling with her words as she continued "Um, will you go out with me?"

Issei blinked, but to make sure his ears weren't deceiving him, he asked "What did you say just now?"

"Well, I usually see you pass by Fukushima bridge… and um, well I… I noticed you didn't pass there today… so I followed you… there's no one around here so I feel that I can… finally ask you out." she paused, fingers playing with the hem of her skirt as she forcefully declared her intentions.

"So please go out with me!"

 **Main Quest! How To Fall From Heaven!**

' **Yuuma Amano' has asked to be your girlfriend! Accepting the offer will automatically fail this quest.**

 **Main Objective: Yuuma Amano is from the ? Faction, and as such, the best way to deal with them… is to** _ **deal**_ **with them. Find the best way to reject her offer.**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: Increased Relationship with the ? Faction, Several New Achievements, 450 EXP, A new Skill, ? ? ?.**

 **Bonus Rewards: 150 EXP per Bonus Objective, ? ? ?**

 **Failure: Certain Death, Game Over.**

 **This Quest Can Not Be Ignored.**

Issei stared, unable to comprehend his ears as his mind began playing over the information he had recently obtained over and over again. Within him his mind was jumping for joy at the thought of a girl finally asking him out. It was a moment in which he had dreamed of for years but never actually believed that it would one day happen. His first instinct was to scream out yes, but Gamer's Mind calmed him enough to prevent that outcome.

In another world entirely, he wouldn't have had the willpower nor the common sense to think things logically. He would have never been the gamer, and would have not possessed the intelligence required to pause and think about why a girl, a hot, sexy girl would ask _him_ out of all people, and why the game would be so against it. He would have never have been savvy enough to realize that Kuoh Academy was one of the only five schools in the entire town, and two were not high schools, but rather middle schools and kindergarten, and the last two were so far away, and on the _opposite_ side of the town, that the chances of her ever running into him on his way home were extremely slim and almost impossible. He would not have been knowledgeable enough to realize that her school uniform had no distinguished colors of the two schools, nor did it sport any badge. He would not have known that she was a being that wasn't human nor would he have known that she was predatory.

In that world, Issei would not have become infamous in school by beating Murayama, the Kendo Champion and captain at her own game nor would he have upstaged his teacher.

In that world, Issei would have said yes, he would have eventually been led on a date, at the end of which his time as a human would cease, he'd be recruited into a family of devils and he would become a perverted hero while technically working as the slave of a red-haired foreigner.

However, _this_ was not that world. As such, Issei _was_ smart enough to realize those tiny clues and inconsistencies in her tale, and best of all, he possessed the power that would help create an entirely new destiny altogether.

' _As much as I am going to hate myself for this… there's no way I can accept her request, the game is right. Too many unknowns, and the fact that the game system registered her as a threat in which Certain Death is involved, no other quest has Certain Death as a penalty.'_

Issei noticed as time slowed down and options began blinking in his vision ' _I'm not sure if outright rejecting her will cause her to attack me, so best thing to do is to make her realize that I'm not anyone's boyfriend material.'_ He gloomily said to himself.

 **Choose Chaotic Response**

 **Choose Neutral Response**

 **Choose Emo Response**

 **Choose Poetic Response**

 **Choose Savvy Response**

 **Choose Gentleman Response**

 **Choose Snarky Response**

 **Choose Perverted Response**

' _If there's anything I've learnt in life, it's that the best way to make a girl hate you… is to be a pervert!'_ Issei thought to himself as he selected his response just before the timer ran out.

 **Perverted Response Selected**

"Sorry but I can't be your boyfriend." Issei spoke bluntly as he walked forward towards her.

"W-what?" the surprise on her face could not be faked even if she wanted to.

"Why?" she asked, her voice a mixture of anger and disbelief.

"Simple. Your breasts aren't big enough."

There was a moment of stunned silence between the two as Amano found herself slack-jawed.

" _Excuse_ me?!" she yelled, and Issei couldn't quite tell the particular reason as to why she felt insulted, whether or not it was because he had rejected her because of her breasts or if it was because he felt her breasts were small.

Issei walked up to her and stared her straight into the eyes, playful smirk on his features, while an enraged scowl was on hers. Issei prepped himself for what he was going to do next, his eyes widening as the thoughts rushed through his mind and the response he selected prepared to put it into action.

 **Gutsy Pervert Activated! Gained 100% Boost to all Perverted actions!**

"Well that's just the biggest reason, but there's also more reasons than that." Issei swiftly moved behind her as he placed her hands on her shoulders and whispered into her ear.

"If you really want me to be your boyfriend, you should know that our dates will be conducted on the soft foam of large bed and the only place I will take you out to is a love hotel. The roses I give you will be kisses placed upon your naked flesh, the gifts I buy you will be toys that will make you scream out my name in pleasure, and as for dinner…" Issei was at this point massaging the girls shoulders, his mind and body automatically applying the knowledge of the human anatomy to maximize focus on the areas that would generate pleasure. She was breathing hard at this point and had completely relaxed into his arms. He did find it amusing that there was a slight nosebleed on the woman's face which she had quickly wiped away.

"… your lunch, your breakfast and all your dinners with me shall consist of nothing but a large, delicious, _meaty_ _sausage_ with two large eggs placed between two jugs of milk you'll happily provide." Issei planted a small bite on her neck as he sucked on it, an act that would clearly leave a mark, as he was greatly enjoying the view of the woman who had placed two of her fingers in her mouth and bit them to keep from moaning out, though there was a line of drool slowly forming from the edges of her mouth.

"I will be the one to provide that paradise which is manna for you, and soon enough…" Issei licked away the drool on her chin, and her lip, she had wanted to kiss him with her tongue, but he denied her the pleasure as he continued with his tongue, dragging it across her face and neck until he reached her ears. Then, he whispered as hotly as he could, with his warm breath tickling her inner lobe.

"…you'll be calling me _'God'_."

Issei nibbled harshly on her earlobe as his massage became more forceful, completely unaware of the irony in the statement he had made as his hands having dug into her shirt, surprisingly finding no bra, and continued to apply just the right amount of pleasure on key areas of her back.

"U-unbelievable… how can… all this… and… a mere massage f-feel so a-amazing~!" she stopped muffling her voice as she let out an appreciative moan, all pretense of resistance fading away.

' _THIS. IS. HEAVEN! I have died and ascended to heaven! This is the greatest day of my life! I can't believe I'm… wait a minute… wasn't the idea for her to kick me in the balls and never talk to me again?_ ' There was a dribble of blood which threatened to come down his nostril as he was regaining himself, but he sniffed it back up as he forced himself to think rationally. The task was much harder than he realized as his hands continued to massage the girl's back, her panting and muffled moaning having gotten much harder as her body shuddered under his ministrations.

' _Crap! The Gutsy Pervert boost is too strong! The idea was for her to kick me in the balls and run away, not for her to get turned on and so deep into it, only to possibly later accuse me of assault!'_ Issei was finding it hard to think logically each and every second. He wondered why his Gamer's Mind hadn't activated yet to remove the lustful effect he had on himself but the thought flew out of his head as he focused on the soft, smooth and unbelievably tender skin of the girl in his arms.

He had never had a girl in his arms before, nor had he ever touched a girl's bare back before. It was one of the greatest crowning moments in Issei's entire perverted life.

"So now tell me… do you _really_ want to be my girlfriend?"

The events which occurred next would forever be burned into Issei's memory. Using the knowledge of anatomy he had acquired, he allowed himself to apply light use of his Mana or MP to all his fingers, feeling them tingle with a cold feeling not unlike frostbite, then, Issei did something he never thought possible.

He groped real breasts.

Now this time his nose did bleed as his hands applied large amounts of pressure on the girls breasts as he fondled them, his fingers which felt of frostbite also went to work and pinched her hardened nipples while giving it a twist, all the while, he nibbled on her earlobe.

The results were possibly unexpected.

"Oh my God~!" the girl in his arms twitched constantly before she began shuddering madly as her legs had clamped together, and her back arched as she went perfectly still, her head swung backwards, eyes glazed over in lust as she gazed into sky as nothing but a blank state of pure bliss.

Issei, despite the blood on his face, grinned as through to his words, "You called?"

His mind however, was thinking something else entirely. ' _Did she just- Did I just make her- DID_ **I** _JUST MAKE A GIRL–'_ he didn't need to answer though, his knowledge of anatomy and biology having clearly provided a giant 'YES' to the question, as clearly seen by the symptoms and characteristics.

It took several seconds for color to return to the girl's eyes, and by then, her face had turned a bright red as she realized what had just occurred.

"You…! You…! YOU! How dare you make me…" her face burned hotter as she realized that she couldn't even say the words out loud, especially when he was still staring at the warm, translucent liquid trailing down the middle of her legs with a gleefully perverted gaze.

' _Well… I'm already in deep… might as well go in deeper._ _Bluff!_ '

"Just another reason as to why you can't be my girlfriend. That was just foreplay and look at how long you lasted! You're probably still a virgin."

 _TING!_

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

For all the increase in the levels that Sense Danger had gained, by the time Issei had sensed the hit coming his way, it was far too late to dodge it.

 **Critical Hit! –100 HP!**

Issei's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he felt a lithe shoe connect with his gonad regions with far much more force than a teenage girl was supposed to possess.

He crumbled to the ground holding his groin painfully as tears comically rolled from his eyes. The only benefit that he'd gained from it was that he spotted the girl leaving as fast as possible, only for his eyes to widen when a portal of energy appeared in front of the woman, as she stepped into it and simply vanished away.

It would only be much, much later, that Issei would realize that one of the stupidest things you can possibly do, is call a Fallen Angel, who fell from heaven, _because_ she had had sex, a virgin.

Until then though, he'd assume it was because of his actions. And irrespective of the fact that he was on the ground, crying out in slight pain, he was also crying out in total joy.

"Game! I take back everything I ever said about you! You're the greatest! The most amazing! Thank you so much!" he sobbed to himself happily.

He had groped breasts, real breasts, and had also had a pseudo-make out session with a real girl, a hot girl for that matter. He could truly die a happy man.

 _PING!_

 **Quest Completed!**

 **How To Fall From Heaven!**

 **Main Objective: Yuuma Amano is from the ? Faction, and as such, the best way to deal with them… is to** _ **deal**_ **with them. Find the best way to reject her offer. Completed! Gained 450 EXP!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **Sage of All Perverts! Decline her offer in the most sexual way possible! Passed! Gained 150 EXP! Gutsy Pervert! Gained Boosted 300 EXP!**

 **Dark Angel Slayer! Decline her offer by killing her. Failed.**

 **Black Widower! Decline her offer in the most sexual way possible, and** _ **then**_ **kill her. Failed.**

 **Rewards: Gained Increased Relationship with the ? Faction**

 **Through your unique understanding of anatomy and the supernatural power of mana at your disposal, you have unlocked a skill that will make you legendary amongst women… and men to if you're into that sort of thing. A new skill has been unlocked, Kami's Fingers [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **The fingers of God can ease wounds with their touch, relax muscles with their coolness, and give the greatest massage ever to whosoever chooses to be within your grasps. Your fingers will however leave them wanting for more, and can** _ **literally**_ **make them addicted to the pleasurable feeling of your touch. Your enemies will beg for your touch, and your allies will never get tired of receiving it. Of course, depending on where exactly you touch, your fingers can create a sensation of pleasure unimaginable to the feeble mind. And of course, it'll also make them addicted. These are the fingers of god, so use them wisely… but remember, they are fingers,** _ **fingers…**_ **and** _ **certainly**_ **you won't insert them anywhere.**

 **Achievement Unlocked: Perversion Potential!**

 **Achievement Unlocked: Uplifting the Fallen!**

 **Achievement Unlocked: Perverted Sage!**

 **Gutsy Pervert! You have completed a successful perverted action!**

 **Strength has gone up by 2!**

 **Dexterity has gone up by 2!**

 **Vitality has gone up by 2!**

 **Bonus Rewards: Sage of Perverts! Gutsy Pervert has been upgraded! Wisdom has been given on the arts of the perv. You can now Write Erotica and gain bonuses in all Erotic works or items crafted, all your attempts at peeking will be successful, you gain in increase in strength and vitality whenever near a perverted interaction, and any sexual activity will fully restore your HP and MP and cure all negative status effects.**

Between thanking the game and crying out in a blend of pain and happiness, Issei paid no attention to the stat increase as he cried in joy at the possible ways he would use Kami's Finger, though respectfully. Had he paid attention, he would have noticed a cloaked stranger who had silently observed everything that had occurred from a nearby tree, giggling to itself as it had recorded everything on a camera while also scribbling furiously in a notebook.

"This stuff practically writes itself… Ero-sennin would be so proud." The figure said to itself, wiping out a faux tear from its eye "I wonder what would have happened if I wasn't using Genjutsu to ensure no one sees or hears anything in this area and make people intentionally avoid it… Oh well. Still, I didn't expect _him_ of all people to possess the Exodus Switch. This makes things all the more interesting…" like the shadow of a falling leaf, there was a gentle gust of breeze that went by, and just as a leaf dropped on the ground, the figure vanished as though it were never there.

* * *

~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~_

It had taken at least one more hour for Issei to finally arrive at Kuoh General Hospital, having calmed down and now capable of rational thought and reason. Of course, the greatest question he asked himself was as to how the girl had vanished into a portal. For all he knew, he was the only one in the world who was capable of supernatural feats due to his gamer ability, but yet, Yuuma Amano had somehow found a way to teleport away with a portal.

Then of course there were the Quest's references. The Quest had been titled How to Fall From Heaven, and there was also the fact that there was a bonus objective labeled Angel Slayer. Now Issei wasn't exactly stupid, well not anymore at least. So those hints were more than enough to imply that something seriously wrong was going on.

' _Yeah right… get a grip Hyoudou. What are the chances of Angels of all things being real? I mean, what's next, devils and gods? This isn't a goddamn anime, it's real life._ ' He thought to himself as he reached the reception. But there was a nagging part of him that couldn't help but feel ironic, considering the fact that his _life_ was a _video game_.

 **New Location Discovered! Kuoh General Hospital! Gained 25 EXP!**

 **You Gain +50% HP and MP Regeneration while within the vicinity.**

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a girl that was admitted earlier today, she was transferred from Kuoh Academy, her name is Murayama?" Issei spoke to the nurse, who he noted from the name tag was called Kin.

The nurse at the reception quickly checked her records "Yes, Busujima-san, the girl who was admitted this afternoon." The nurse confirmed. While Issei blinked slightly. Until today, he never knew her surname. Hell, even his _Observe_ ability didn't display her surname. As stupid as it was, he _assumed_ she _didn't_ have a surname.

"However, due to strict instructions from her parents, no one is allowed to visit her at this time. Sorry."

Issei's brows furrowed, why in the world would her parents refuse visitors?

Issei weighed his options carefully, would he leave? Stopped by nothing more than a mere instruction? The chances of finding her alone to apologize would be very low. And he wanted to do this, to make right what was wrong.

Issei glanced at the nurse and cast a brief observe at her. His ability giving him far more information than he expected. The gamer steeled his features as he made up his mind, a liberal use of Bluff being able to fix the problem for him.

"I… know. You see, Murayama… is my girlfriend." ' _This is so going to bite me in the butt later._ '

Nurse Kin looked slightly surprised "Well, I'm sorry but…"

"No it's okay, I understand, you're just doing your job." Issei did his best to fake a convincing sigh "Her parents most likely made that instruction because of me. They don't want me to see her, they don't approve of us being together."

Kin struggled slightly as indecision was clear on her face. ' _Okay… now to hit the hammer on the head.'_

"I mean, I'm sure you understand, she's a rich, influential girl from a powerful family, I'm a poor delinquent who has nothing to offer her. Her parents would always get in the way… though I truly… truly… _love her_." Issei managed to keep a dejected face as he uttered those words, yet his inner mind was throwing up bile as he uttered the dreaded 'L' word.

"I suppose it was never meant to be…" ' _Cue dramatic rebuttal in three… two… one…'_

"NO!" the surprise on Issei's face couldn't be faked though as he had not expected the woman to respond so fiercely, she blushed and continued, more subdued "I mean… um, you shouldn't let anyone stop you from being with the one you truly love! If you truly love someone then you have to let them know! Especially seeing as how she's hurt! She needs you to be with her!"

' _That worked a bit too well.'_ "But what do I do? I don't even know where she is?"

The nurse glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them after her outburst. "She's in the Executive Ward, room number four, on the fifth floor. Tell no one I told you this!"

' _Jackpot! So glad that Observe told me she recently broke up with her boyfriend because of her father's instructions.'_

"Thanks so much! I'll never forget this!"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Kin sighed.

 _PING!_

 **Through the act of manipulating words and actions, faking emotions and using your knowledge of the situation to your advantage, a new skill has been created! Fallacy [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **There's bluffing, and then there's outright spinning a tall tale. You can appeal to people's sympathy, to their pride, to their emotions and their ignorance. Either way you do it, you can now deceive people to your advantage. Hope it makes you real proud.**

' _Useful… but I really don't like the idea of manipulating people, hopefully I won't make it a habit…_ ' Issei thought to himself as he ascended a flight of stairs, passing by several bustling doctors and nurses moving from place to place. He did pause slightly when he noted so many items on trays and trolleys having labels on them. They possessed labels which he was sure only he could see, because they were floating in the air and everyone else ignored it.

 **Medical Items**

 **Dopamine**

 **Morphine**

 **Hydrogen Peroxide**

 **Anti-Biotics**

 **Analgesics**

 **Needles**

 **Syringes**

The list went on and on, and Issei wondered why the hell the game was highlighting these items for him. He walked up to a stationary table, glanced at a bag of syringe needles and picked them up. Only to pale rapidly at the new messages that came up to the forefront of his vision.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _Item Placed in Inventory, Needles x 20_

 **Through the action of making excellent use of your inventory to store items where no one else can reach nor see, a new skill has been created! Larceny [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **You're a real upstanding citizen, lying, stealing and all you need left is to murder before you become the embodiment of a self-centered 21** **st** **century human being! You can now steal items which do not belong to you by rapidly placing it in your inventory. With this skill, you can walk into Fort Knox, empty it out by placing diamonds and gold into your inventory and walk out with no one ever the wiser to become the greatest thief who ever lived! That is… before the cameras catch you on tape, leading to the military abducting you and sending you to Area 51 to become a Scientist's personal guinea pig.**

Issei froze still as he ensured that no one had seen him take the needles, confirming that he hadn't been seen, he swiftly decided to ignore everything else and continue the actual reason he came to the Hospital in the first place. He honestly had no intention of going to prison before he was even eighteen yet.

' _This game will be the death of me…'_ he thought silently to himself as his eyes twitched at the rather intriguing descriptions of skills.

Issei paused as he reached the fifth floor, realizing that it consisted of mostly single rooms per patient. He had been spinning a tall tale yes, but he apparently had been right as to the fact that Murayama was indeed rich. These rooms were quite costly after all, and not just anyone could afford them.

He reached the right door, took a deep breath as he knocked slowly, the three sharp raps echoing across the room.

"Come in." a strained voice responded from within the room.

' _Here goes nothing._ ' Issei braced himself and walked in, spotting the familiar dark haired girl sitting on a chair beside her bed, she was dressed in a hospital gown that stopped at her knees, the semi-translucent material indicating that she had not bothered to wear a bra underneath and was probably also not wearing any underwear. Issei immediately stopped checking her out when he spotted her neck.

There was a neck brace placed on it, and the girl herself clearly looked as though she was in great discomfort, though as soon as she spotted him, her eyes widened in shock.

"You! What are you doing here?!" she put on the most angry and intimidating face she could muster, though with her neck brace it wasn't at all scary.

Issei immediately placed his hands in an open gesture "Hold on! I come in peace!"

She snarled at him "Come in peace? I'd rather you come in pieces you bastard! You gave me a Cervical Fracture! You almost completely broke my neck! Had I not been rushed to the hospital so quickly, I! Would! Have! _Died_!"

Issei winced with each point she made, yet, he was still unable to feel guilt, just the slightest hint of remorse. Yet, his pride and temper was slowly bubbling within the surface.

She wasn't done though, rather, she continued, her face almost turning red from exertion "I was wrong about you! You're the worst human being I have ever met in my entire life! And to think I actually gave you the benefit of the doubt, and look at where that landed me!" She paused to gesture at the room "I am in this cervical collar because of you! I might have to do surgery because of you!" she spat out.

Issei said nothing, his eyes finding the door rather interesting at that moment, his mind wondering if coming to apologize was a good idea. His fists had already balled and his teeth were already grinding silently against themselves.

"You are a sick, twisted person! Do you think I didn't hear what you said back then? Terms Accepted? You'd have killed me because of a stupid date?!"

Issei's eyes widened, he'd almost forgot about those two innocuous words the Chaos Mode had made him utter "That was-" what would he say? An accident? A mistake? People didn't make verbal mistakes like that.

"It was what? Was it your own way of proving you are just as much scum as the rest of the men out there? Of displaying that you are nothing but a pervert who'd kill girls that turned him down? Or are you the type of sicko who gets off on beating girls to death? You're nothing but a pathetic scum of a man who has no friends or loved ones! I HATE you Hyoudou! I. HATE. YOU." She finished her tirade and panted, her ragged breaths coming out as harsh bursts of oxygen, as her chest, naked and bare beneath her robe heaved heavily.

"So what do you want? Are you here to finish the job? Are you here to gloat? You beat me, whoop-dee-doo! Congrats! You proved that Kendo is nothing to you! So what more do you want?"

"…I came here to apologize." Issei muttered, allowing himself to speak his mind as his hair covered the bulk of his eyes. She glanced at him with the meanest stink-eye she could give him "Of course, an apology will make everything better. Will your apology will heal my neck and get me back on my feet? Will it ensure that I survive surgery? Will it keep me alive?"

 **Neutral Response Selected.**

"Will it make you shut up?"

Murayama balked " _Excuse_ me?"

"I came here to apologize to you _over_ an _accident_. I didn't come here to listen to you blame me for all your problems. You're not the only one who can play the blame game." Issei stated coldly.

"In case you've forgotten, _you_ made the challenge, _you_ were so certain you were going to win, _you_ made me fight. And now that you lost, _you_ are sounding like a sore loser!"

"Oh no, I _wouldn't_ want to be a sore loser, you know, to go with my sore neck, WHICH YOU BROKE!" she yelled, and for emphasis she pointed at her neck brace.

"So what hurts more? Your broken neck or your shattered pride?"

There was a moment of silence in the room, as though the phantom of tranquility had visited and cast it's haunted spell upon the occupants. Murayama did a double take, pausing as the question had echoed across the room and she recoiled as though she'd been slapped across the face. Issei however, calmly set his gaze on her, and continued.

"You challenged me to a battle, a battle you fully expected to win, a battle you thought would be so decisive, that you even went as far as not bothering to give your opponent armor. But it didn't go as planned now did it? You, a mighty champion of Kendo, you who had been practicing since you were nine, you, who ranks among the greatest athletes of the academy, were defeated and suffered the greatest injury of your career, by someone who you thought could barely hold the kendo stick right." Issei continued, his voice as mellow and calm as a stagnant body of water.

"The reason you're so angry isn't because I broke your neck and you know it. The reason you're so angry is because a total rookie beat you, a champion, in one hit. The reason you're angry is because you underestimated me and the consequences were greater than you expected. The reason you're angry is because you have never been more humiliated in your life."

" _Shut. Up._ " She whispered, but yet, it possessed a hint of venom within.

"Have you even paused to wonder what would have happened had I not gotten that lucky hit in? Or perhaps, what would have happened if I didn't know kendo at all? You'd have been contented with beating me into bloody humiliation in front of the entire school, taking my money, and then making me do your bidding. You wouldn't have injured me, you admitted that yourself, but you'd have been happily decimating an inferior opponent with no regards whatsoever for how I'd have felt about it. But now that you're on the other end of the stick, it feels unfair doesn't it?"

" _Stop. Talking._ " This time she warned, her voice possessing the element of steel.

"I came here to truly and sincerely apologize for what I did. I questioned myself and felt that I was a monster for breaking your neck, but I didn't come here to here you tell me the reasons I suck. I've been told that every day of my life by almost everyone who meets me and I don't need a reminder."

Issei slowly turned his back on her "If you decide to accept my apology, that's fine with me, maybe we can become best of friends and have a laugh about this sometime in the future. If you decide not to and chose to hate me, then that's also fine with me, you're not the first and you're definitely not going to be the last."

He placed one hand on the door as he opened it "Just do me a favor. If you're going to hate me… hate me. Just make sure you do it for the right reasons."

" _Get. Out!"_

Issei ignored her as he decided to get the last word in "As for the bet… there's only one thing I need you to do for me."

"Sit quietly, sip some tea, read a book and when you finally calm down… find the answer to this question."

" _Who are you angry at?"_

The door closed with a slam, leaving coldly calm teen on the outside, and another subdued one within.

Issei said nothing to himself as he walked down the flight of stairs, silently wondering why she had set him off so much. He supposed that it sucked, that the reason he had been questioning his entire existence and humanity was because he felt bad about injuring Murayama.

Yes, it sucked, he broke her neck. But he himself wasn't completely to blame. She wasn't some defenseless maiden nor was she a damsel in distress, she was a strong capable woman who had responsibility for her own actions. He technically wasn't in control of himself when he accepted their bet, but she had no such excuse. She had fully made the decision knowing what it entailed.

He had been so worried, so concerned, he had gone to lengths just to visit her in the hospital, only to be completely berated for his efforts. Hyoudou Issei was a lot of things, he was chivalrous, he was perverted, he was humble and he was honorable. But he was never patient, and he was not a wimp. He had pride in himself, and that pride would not let him become a quiet sheep that would sit back completely and let someone criticize him. In a single day, he had experienced more emotion and had more things happen to him than he had in almost his entire life. Yet, this was the first time Issei had ever recalled standing up for himself _to a girl_.

"Yoo-hoo! Hyoudou-san! How did it go with Busujima-san?" Issei turned his attention to Kin, the nurse in which he had previously fooled into letting her tell him Murayama's location. He supposed it was just another action that seemed to have been pointless in the long run.

He gave a faux smile to the woman as he shrugged. "I guess some things were not meant to be."

Disregarding the disappointment on her face, Issei pushed the glass doors of the Hospital open as he walked out. He didn't have time to focus on side distractions nor dwell on past mistakes, especially when the mistake in question was incapable of reason.

He had an entire life ahead of him, a life as a game, just as he was the player. There would be no more looking back, no more regrets, no more doubts. He would play to the greatest of his ability.

And he would complete the game.

For his name was Hyoudou Issei.

And he was The Gamer.

 **Achievement Unlocked: Will of Fire.**

* * *

 _~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~_

 **Issei's Current Stats:**

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 5 [71.68%]**

 **Current Title: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **MP: 100/100**

 **Strength: 15**

 **Vitality: 13**

 **Dexterity: 27**

 **Intelligence: 30(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 25 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 10 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 10 (-1)(+1)(+1.4)(+2)(+3)**

 **Statuses: Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game]. Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char]. On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions] Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter] True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char] Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Char] Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]** **Patron of the Arts [+2 In** **t** **, +2 Wis], Reluctant Gentleman [+3 Char, +2 Wis]**

 **Points Available: None**

 **Money: 94,819 Yen**

 **Perks: Mr Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert, Ambidextrous**

 **Achievements: Karma Demon, Sound of Solitude, Renaissance Man, Two For The Price Of One, Perversion Potential, Perverted Sage, Uplifting The Fallen, Will Of Fire.**

 **Perk Points Available: None**

 **Skills:-**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 10 [45.31%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [25.90%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [21.67%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Fallacy [Active] Lv. 1 [21.04%]**

 **Larceny [Active] Lv. 1 [31.07%]**

 **Kami's Fingers [Active] Lv. 1 [94.56%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 9 [75.41%]**

 **Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 21 [34.09%]**

 **Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 19 [23.10%]**

 **Art Mastery [Passive] Lv. 3 [0.89%]**

 **Musical Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [1.21%]**

 **Science Mastery [Passive] Lv. 2 [15.07%]**

 **Dance Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [3.04%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [49.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1 [1.23%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [355/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [333/1000] Neutral**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Liked**

 **? : [919/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [400/1000] Neutral**

 **? : [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a poor, sad boy who dreams of having his own Harem and becoming the Harem King. While he isn't having delusions of grandeur, he causes chaos in his wake in his usual attempts to catch a glimpse of the naked forms of the girls at his school, thus gaining their ire and the ire of all those around him. Recently, he uncovered his ability as the Gamer, but is this all there is about this less than worthwhile teen, or perhaps, does a greater destiny await?**

* * *

 **A/N: So... finally canon timeline begins and I'm sure no one expected this direction I was going with Murayama. Come on people, making a minor female character major does not imply I'm doing a shipping nor does it imply that she's joining the harem. I'm not that hormonal. Finally, next chapter Naruto makes a full blown debut, and Issei will finally do his last quest of the day... getting milk, shit is getting extremely serious.**

 **The Naruto cameo should however hint something for those more savvy of you, and also the Kami's Fingers will be used responsibly. Seriously though, those things have more uses than er... what came to the minds of most when first mentioned. _Perverts._**

 **Also, here's something to note for reference, Devils love manipulative or cunning actions, Angels love good or honest and noble actions, Fallen Angels love sex. Truly, tons of Fallen Angels fell for sexual or romantic reasons, and Irina almost fell because of her passion for Issei... So, the lemon (if it can be called that) does actually contribute to the plot. Yipee!**

 **Please send me your ideas, your compliments, your questions and your adoring reviews!**

 **Please Review! If we can break the 100 review mark, I'll post another chapter super early~!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	5. And the Game Begins

_**A/N:**_ **Finally! Here is the last of my back to back update. Once Again, thank you guys so much for doubling the review count! This Fic has not existed for even two weeks yet and i already have over a hundred reviews and over two hundred favs and follows! Thank you for the love! Once Again, this fic is a Smart!Issei fic and eventual Powerful!Issei fic. And this chapter is dedicated to those who complained about him being weak.**

 **Also, just in case you don't know her, check up the DxD Wikia for the character called Tsubasa Yura. She's not an OC. She's in Sona's Peerage and is canon.**

 **Also, take warning, this chapter is particularly dark and contains tons of vulgar language. So without any further ado... I give you...**

 _ **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**_

 _ **Chapter 4**_

 _ **And the Game Begins...**_

 **Elsewhere…**

 **The Underworld…**

Sirzechs Lucifer was the current reigning Lucifer, one of the legendary Four Satans, and as such he was an Ultimate Class Devil with an insane amount of power. He had gotten his title through hard work, determination and his own powers. His hair was red, just as red as the color his enemies bled whenever they faced him. He was powerful, he was a legend in his own right.

Yet, there were only two things in the world that could cow his power. And both of them where right in front of him as he spoke.

One was his loving and beautiful wife, Grayfia Lucifuge. She was a tall woman with silver hair and a plain stony face who possessed extreme beauty to go with her well-endowed chest. She was the Queen of her husband's peerage, and as such she was the woman who had the man wrapped around her finger as he would go to any lengths for her.

The other thing, was every authoritative figure's worst nightmare and worst enemy. As it stacked up in front of his desk, Sirzechs questioned the logic of him having become the Lucifer in the first place.

It was, paperwork.

The spirits of a thousand dead Kage shuddered in unison.

"Not more paperwork… I just finished the last pile!" he groaned slightly to himself as his wife dropped several stacks of papers onto his table.

"You knew that being the Lucifer would involve approving, permitting and supervising several aspects of the Underworld, did you think you'd do it all in person without any form of official documents?" his wife asked calmly as she watched her husband pout.

"I expected some sort of paper work, but this amount is ridiculous." He sighed as he looked over some papers.

"The reports I've been receiving haven't been good either."

"So which faction is stirring up trouble this time?" His wife walked behind his chair and rested his head on her chest, an action that usually served to calm the Lucifer.

"The Lord of the Vampire Faction has been passive for so long, he's usually content with just sleeping or causing mayhem. But apparently some warriors of the Goddess Artemis slayed several Vampires who had ventured too close to Greece. One of them, that had been killed was called Serah I think, and she was apparently extremely close to him. Artemis however is also enraged that the leader of her warriors was killed in the scuffle." He sighed as he rested his head calmly into the large breasts of his wife and lover.

"Knowing her, she'd most likely want to take revenge. However, Lord Alucard is the insanely powerful vampire that single handedly put a stop to the civil war between the Carmilla faction and the Tepes faction, uniting the Vampires together under his banner. He isn't the type of person to take anything lying down. A battle between the two would be catastrophic on a large scale, especially if Artemis calls in other Greek Gods to back her up and Alucard calls in the reinforcements he recently gained from the Youkai Faction."

"Speaking of the Youkai Faction, have you heard the rumors?" Grayfia asked while calmly stroking her husband's hair. It was one of the reasons in which she had agreed to marry him, she had fallen in love with his amazing long locks of red hair.

"It's more or less a badly kept secret by now." He stated calmly "The Yuokai faction has a new leader, no one knows who he is or where he came from, all they do however is worship him as a god. Rumor has it that he made Yasaka into his mistress and he that he has been recalling the Yuokai to the faction. He has made powerful allies and is training the Yuokai for whatever reason."

"You _do_ realize the reason?" his wife asked curtly.

"We cannot yet translate his actions as an act of war. He is building troops and making allies, but he has not outright commanded any negative action against anyone."

"You mean _other_ than taking Kuroka, an infamous SS-Class stray-devil into his wing and then declaring that any action taken against her is an action taken against the whole Youkai faction?"

"…You are aware of the situations behind why Kuroka became a stray-devil."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the Underworld is aware."

The Maou breathed "Either way… with Kokabiel threatening to start something, we can't afford to focus on external threats for now. The fragile truce between the three Judeo-Christian factions hangs in the balance; the slightest of nudges could throw all of us back into a great war. We can't focus on external threats when we're busy fighting ourselves."

Sirzechs paused when his wife landed a chaste kiss on his lips as she put her forehead against his.

"You've been in here for almost two days with paperwork. You deserve a break from being the Maou. The burden of constantly feeling as though the fate of the world rests on your shoulders must be unimaginable. It almost makes me glad that I lost to Serafall when I challenged her for the title of Leviathan. You need a break."

"I still have paperwork-"

"Will my King kindly take a break from his paperwork to rest, eat and spend some time with his Queen?" it had been asked as though it were a question, but Sirzechs knew that it was most definitely not a question.

Sirzechs gave a brief smile as took his wife in his arms and landed a kiss of his own on her lips. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd be lost, wandering through a pile of papers." She frankly stated, surprised as to how he grabbed her and put him on his laps before landing a more sensual kiss to her mouth.

"You know, I think it's about time I get started on working on a little nephew or niece for my Rias-chan."

His wife almost rolled her eyes but refrained from doing so as it would be detrimental to her image as the perfect Queen. "I just hope he won't have a sister complex like his father."

"He?"

"Of course, a young, handsome boy just like his father."

"I'd love a beautiful, lovely girl just like her mother." He stated as he kissed his wife with even more passion as clothes began coming off "But… who's to say we can't have both?"

"We'll still have the girl first though."

Sirzechs grinned "Then might as well get started!" he stated as he carried the half-naked form of his wife towards their bedroom.

The beautiful sounds of flesh hitting flesh and loud, ecstatic moans would be heard later that night, but had the Maou looked carefully enough, he would have realized that in the passion of his love, he had accidently slipped a particular file into his 'accepted' stack of requests.

And that would make all the difference.

* * *

~~~~~~ _DxD: - Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~_

 **Kuoh**

 **An Hour Later…**

Issei sighed to himself as he got off the bus. The Hospital was quite some distance away from the nearest Supermarket, he'd eventually had to take the bus, yet it was already past evening. The calm hue of the night had fallen, and most citizens had retreated for the comfort of their homes and loved ones.

And he was here heading to a goddamned Supermarket to get some milk. Issei grumbled to himself. Today had been the most stressful and eventful day of his life. And he wanted nothing more than for it to be over.

 _PING!_

 **Night has fallen, Random Encounters enabled.**

Issei didn't even bother glancing at the notification as he walked down the street to the large supermarket which he could see was still open. He walked in, only to pause when he spotted a new notification pop up.

 **Welcome to Neku Supermarket!**

 **You have found a Store!**

 **These areas allow you to purchase items with your hard earned money, item prices vary on your charisma and you may or may not be able to barter with traders in certain stores.**

Issei tiredly walked over to the area with carts, grabbed a basket and began browsing the store for the jug of milk he needed.

"Shoo cat! Scrat! Get out of here!" Issei blinked when he spotted a salesclerk chasing out a black cat with a broom. The cat hissed at the clerk, scratched the face of the man, before giving a wink to Issei as it ran away.

' _Gah… I feel mentally tired even though my body isn't physically weak. I just want this day to be over…_ '

 _PING!_

 **Due to no longer giving a damn about anything and a form of mental exhaustion from an unbelievably long day, you're running low on dopamine and adrenaline and you are now automatically set on Neutral Mode.**

 **Neutral Mode activated, bonus to all Neutral actions. Can be Disabled.**

Issei stared at the notification, thankfully it could be disabled and he really was tired, so he simply left it on as he ventured into the supermarket. He did wonder why he got the strangest urge to simply lay on grass and go watch the clouds. Ignoring the urge, he searched around the area, finding rather interesting items that he got interested in buying.

 **Shop Items**

 **Needle and Thread x 50**

 **Used in the upgrade of clothes or crafting of clothing materials.**

 **Fine Silk x 50**

 **Grants a +1 to dexterity**

 **Fine Leather x 50**

 **Grants a +5 to defense**

 **Fine Cotton x 50**

 **Grants a + 1 to vitality**

The list went further, as Issei realized that he wanted to put his crafting skills to the test, he threw the items into the basket and moved on, curious to see if he could get anything else.

He probably wouldn't find any wood or metal work objects in a supermarket, but perhaps he'd get something else. He took some gardening tools and placed them into his basket. He however paused when he spotted a rather intriguing item.

 **Kitchen Knives x 10**

 **Used mainly to cut up dishes in a kitchen, but can also be used as a deadly weapon either wielded as a blade or thrown as a projectile. Grants + 5 attack.**

Issei realized it would be a good idea to have some sort of blade and tossed two of them into his basket which was slowly piling up. He turned around the corner, to finally get the milk he needed only to bump into someone unexpected. Issei swore as the items in his hands fell and he felt the feminine figure crash into him. Issei tried to hold his ground, but failed as he mentally noted that he felt as though he had crashed into a castle. The duo were sent tumbling to the floor as Issei tried to grab anything he could get his hands on to stabilize himself. He almost cried out tears of joy as his hands cupped a rather soft fleshy mound which he had been previously acquainted. There was a slight moan as the woman crashed on him, her backside landing on his crotch with far more force than Issei expected, causing the teen to both wince and cast out a silent prayer to the gods of perversion at the lucky coincidence.

' _Sob… this is the greatest day of my life… if my life wasn't a video game it'd have turned into an ecchi anime… I groped boobs twice today, and now a hot girl accidently grinds herself on me…'_ Issei hid his manly tears of happiness behind a stony façade of indifference as he noted a collection of books which the girl had been holding fall from her hands and landed on the both of them as she recoiled from the unexpected impact.

"Sorry! I wasn't looking at where… Hyoudou?" Issei groaned within his mind as he spotted the Kuoh Academy Uniform on the blue-haired, blue-eyed girl ' _Why gods of perversion? Why? Why must the nightmare continue?_ '

Though he knew who she was, he reflexively casted a silent observe and immediately noted several traits about her.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: ?**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 500/500**

 **?: 250/250**

 **Current Status Effects: Surprised, Flirty, Embarrassed.**

' _Great! Another person I've met today with an absurdly high level and an unknown race. She's in my year isn't she? And isn't she also a member of the Student Council? It's almost the same with Sona…'_ Issei did however note how quickly her face turned beet red. It surprised him, mostly because she always possessed a certain cool and calm aura around her to match with her blue hair and eyes. He'd never seen her lose her cool or become embarrassed in all the time he had spent at Kuoh Academy.

' _I know that our position is rather compromising but why would she so embarrassed?_ ' Issei thought to himself as he cast his eyes on the books which fell. His eyes widened, unable to believe what he was seeing, he could spot those books from a mile away and would recognize them even if he didn't have the observe ability.

 **Icha Icha: Busty Blonde Edition!**

 **Icha Icha: Paradise Redux! – Now with Illustrations from the movie!**

 **Icha Icha: Eternal Passion!**

 **The Icha Icha is a collection of the best-selling adventure-thriller erotica in Japan and one of the best-selling erotic works worldwide possessing several movies and spin-offs. It has existed for almost 100 years, has been translated into different languages and is still being published till today. It written only by the mysterious author known with the initials N.U. who in turn claims to have inherited it from his master, a man known as Jiraiya.**

Issei of course, being the pervert he was, had every single book in the series, had watched every single movie, and also frequently wrote fan fiction on the franchise. Not that he'd admit that though.

"This isn't what it looks like." she stated bluntly outwardly trying to keep a cool persona while swiftly picking up all the books that had fallen to the floor, but not before Issei grabbed one she wasn't able to and smirked at her, also deciding to use this to his advantage before she remembered that he had groped her breasts.

"Oh? So you mean you're done being a closet pervert who enjoys Icha Icha?"

"Yes." she paused as the question played in her mind again "I mean no." she then realized that was also the wrong answer and then glared slightly at Issei's wolfish smirk. He'd set up a question in which would be incriminating whether or not she answered positively or negatively.

"That was a trick question wasn't it."

"I think Natsuo should have been paired up with Sakumi not Hinami."

"Absolutely not! Natsuo and Hinami made the greatest couple, she was the shy maiden from a harsh clan and he was the clan-less orphan who no one believed would amount to anything but…" Tsubasa stopped mid-rant as she realized she'd been caught red-handed. The knowing grin Issei sported did not make her feel any better.

"Best way to find a true fan of any franchise? Bring up the shipping wars." The perverted teen stated sagely.

There was a moment of silence before the girl chuckled and smirked at him "You win this round Hyoudou. I see why Sona-kaicho finds you so amusing."

Issei rose an eyebrow, Souna found him amusing, that simple fact was both interesting, and extremely troublesome. He felt as though he was forgetting something important though.

"Wait… what is this thing poking at-" Tsubasa's eyes widened slightly as she realized that they were actually still in a rather compromising position and other people had begun pointing at them while whispering in hushed voices.

"So scandalous, kids these days, they'll do such stuff anywhere." A particular mean old woman had stated, only to be hushed by the Sales Clerk.

"Shh… we're getting a free show, don't let them hear you."

Tsubasa's cheeks grew hot, as she moved her hips slightly and felt a wave of pleasure hit her most sacred regions as the male teen underneath her groaned slightly. She then realized just _what_ exactly was poking at her underwear as though it'd tear through it, and why it felt extremely good. With a start, the normally unfazed and serious girl hopped to her feet and adjusted her skirt, trying and failing to return to her usually passive persona.

"Did you just get turned on by me falling on you? How perverted can you be?" her face was as calm as it usually was, but her cheeks were a bright pink which reduced her intimidating aura.

"Says the girl who grinded her hips on me while holding erotica" Issei calmly countered, finding it amusing as to how her cheeks turned beet red as she tried to hush him up.

"Don't say it in a way other people will misinterpret!"

Issei simply chuckled to himself as he got to his feet and gathered his fallen items before handing her book back to her.

"I didn't know that they sold these here though, I already have the complete series."

Tsubasa glanced at him warily before calmly smiling and staring at him with a cold gaze "Hyoudou… should you tell anyone what you saw here today-"

"You'll make my life a living hell, blah blah blah." Issei stated bluntly "Look enough girls have threatened me in my life at this point for it to have no real effect anymore." Issei sighed as he absent-mindedly noted her stunned expression.

"I'm not sure if I should be impressed by that or appalled." She stated honestly.

"Hmm… I liked you better when you were flustered and blushing up a storm, you looked cuter."

The blue-haired girl had heat return to her cheeks once more. "Hyoudou-san, are you trying to flirt with me?"

"I was only stating a fact and for God's sake, complimenting a girl doesn't mean you're flirting with her!" it was for the briefest of seconds, but Issei spotted her flinch as though physically hit when he had said God.

"Oi, you okay? You don't look so good."

Tsubasa gave a strained smile as she shook her head "It's nothing… the fall must have made me dizzy."

"What chapter were you reading that made you crash into me anyway?"

The girl perked up "Oh only the best parts, it was the moment in which Sakumi confessed her attraction to Natsuo, but Natsuo had already accepted Hinami's!"

Issei's left eyebrow rose "You mean the time in which Natsuo got stupidly drunk and had sex with Sakumi, only for Hinami to walk in on them?"

"That's the one!" she stated excitedly.

"The confrontation was amazing! And then Natsuo is forced to choose between the girl he has loved since he was a kid, or the girl who has loved him!"

"Oh… you're so going to love the way that turned out."

"Shh…! I don't want any spoilers!"

"Then how bout I tell you one of Natsuo's darkest secrets?"

"…What?"

"He also slept with Inomi."

"No way!"

Issei barely noted how time had whizzed by, the duo had stood in place, excitedly chatting and discussing about the drama of the Icha Icha series. The girl in question clearly loved the series for it's high-end characters, intriguing tale and amazing romance. Issei on the other hand enjoyed the tale for the erotic moments filled with in. The work had been described by one critic as though someone had taken pornography, shoved it into Shakespeare's hands and ordered him to make lemonade with it. And what an excellent lemonade he had made.

Issei smiled as he realized that this was the longest he had recalled ever talking with a girl. Longer than his brief chat with Koneko, or his pseudo-make-out session with Yuuma. This was also one of the few times he had actually found a girl that shared a common interest with him. Even if it was just about an erotic literature series, a bond had been shared.

"The new movie is coming out soon though, I'd love to go watch it… but it'd be lame if anyone saw me going to watch a movie like that by myself… like some pervert." She sighed softly.

"I wouldn't mind going with you, I'm pretty sure I don't have much I'm doing otherwise." Issei wondered if the universe was spinning events in his favor, as it seemed he would finally go on a date for the first time in his life.

Tsubasa gave him a furtive look "You do realize that people who go to watch the Icha Icha series together are usually couples, and more often than naught, they _imitate_ what the actors are doing on the screen?"

"So what bothers you more? The slim chance that we might make out or the fact that people might assume we're a couple?" Issei calmly asked, trying to hide the annoyance in his tone as he realized that his Infamous status would probably backfire on him right now.

"Well, it's more of the fact that people would know I watch the Icha Icha series…" she trailed off.

Issei did manage to raise a slight eyebrow, glad and surprised that she wasn't against the idea because of him "Not that I care, but why don't you want people to know that you're a fan of Icha Icha?"

She glanced at him as though he was stupid "Because then everyone will think I'm a pervert."

"And?" he rhetorically enquired.

"What? People will think I'm a pervert! Think about how that will affect my reputation!" Issei sighed and muttered a silent 'troublesome' as he massaged his forehead with two fingers.

"In the long run it would boost your reputation positively. Rules of double standard clearly states that male perverts are gross creeps who have to stop fapping to girls they'll never have, but female perverts are extra sexy and more feminine due to being more liberal and open about their sexuality." He bluntly stated.

"…What?" Tsubasa gazed at him with an obviously skeptic expression on her face.

"Why do you think guys want nymphomaniac girlfriends even though they'll never be able to keep up with her? It's because female perverts are hot, I just don't know why so many of you try to hide it." ' _So Neutral Mode makes me speak my mind without caring about what others think, is this going to be a good or bad thing?_ '

"So you think I'm hot?" she grinned as she slowly moved towards the teen.

"So you finally admit to being a pervert?" Issei countered smoothly.

Tsubasa smirked "No point in denying it now, we've been discussing Icha Icha in far _too_ _much_ detail for the past hour. So _do_ you think I'm hot?" she asked again, emphasizing the question as she got closer to him and placed her hands on his chest.

"Do I need to make you sit down on top of me again to get the message, or was the first time clear enough?" the sarcasm in Issei's voice could not have been clearer.

Tsubasa simply leaned into him and whispered into his ear "I suppose that depends on whether or not your pants will be on when I do the sitting."

Wait. _What?_

Issei for the first time in a while felt heat rise to his cheeks as he subtly rubbed the bridge of his nose, using that as a cover to pinch his nose and hide the nosebleed threatening to shoot him into the sky.

' _Two can play this game though._ '

"And if they're on?"

The girl had a playful smirk on her features as her breasts pressed against his arm, clearly she wasn't having a bra "Then you'll only feel nothing but agony as you experience the feeling of a phantom sensation, unable proceed any further."

"And _if_ they're _off_?"

"Then I suppose, that would be the moment that you truly become a _man_ , as you experience the sweet nectar of the forbidden fruit that will send you to _heaven~_!" her lips were so close to his, she had placed his hand under her skirt as Issei could feel her butt through the light fabric of her underwear.

"Intriguing… I just have one question though." He stated calmly as their lips were mere centimeters apart.

"And what would that be~?" she asked, just as her lips were about to meet Issei's.

Only to be stopped by a finger. His finger.

"Why are you trying so hard to seduce me?"

Tsubasa froze, the previously sultry expression on her face vanishing into the perfect image of shock.

Issei's eyes were hidden behind his hair, but there was no need for them to be seen as his Observe ability had clearly read her status effects.

 **Tsubaki Yura Lv. 14**

 **Current Status Effects: Scared, Uncertain, Disgusted**

Her status effects had been in complete contrast with her personality, she'd been seductive on the outside, but on the inside, she was scared about actually going ahead with the plan. She was the greatest actor Issei had ever seen, and if not for his Gamer ability, he would have been none the wiser. Earlier, when they had been discussing their love of Icha Icha, her statuses had been happy, cheerful, and she was truly enjoying every single minute of their conversation. Only for it to take an abrupt turn the second she started touching his chest.

"How did you- I mean-" she found herself unable to speak as Issei calmly set her aside and picked up his basket of goods.

"Honestly, I don't want to know who asked you to seduce me or why you were seducing me in the first place." He stated calmly, staring the girl into her eyes.

"You have no idea as to how happy I was thinking a girl actually liked me, we had something there, I could see your eyes lit up when you discussed the novels, you finally enjoyed discussing your hidden passion with someone who wouldn't judge you for it. Hell, I could have easily as played along with your seduction, and, I _would_ have done so because you're amazingly beautiful and sleeping with you would have probably been the greatest accomplishment I would have achieved in my entire life." Issei placed his fingers on her chin as he stroked it slightly, a bitter grin on his face.

The blush on her face could not be faked as she swallowed the hard lump in her throat "So why didn't you?"

"If I did… you'd always remember our time together as the most disgusting or worst thing you ever did. And I can't have that." He sighed "I want the moment to be one that fills you with joy and passion, one that sends every molecule of oxygen, every atom in your cells and makes every piece of stardust in your body to resonate with the passion of a thousand suns, unable to feel nothing but loving warmth."

"So when I do take your kiss, when I do take your body, and when I do take the very essence of your _soul_ as my own…" Issei leaned in, and then silently whispered into her ears, watching as she shuddered in place from the warmth of his breath into her ear.

"…It'll only be after I've taken your heart."

With those words, Issei walked away from the girl, grabbed a jug of milk from an aisle and went straight to the reception.

Issei sighed as he spotted her in the peripheral view of his vision standing still like as though she was immune to the river of time, eternally frozen like the golden statue of the daughter of Midas.

"That'll be 22,300 Yen."

Issei reached into his rather fat wallet and dropped handed the money to the clerk, carrying his bag of goods, he walked out of the supermarket.

Well, this had been the least damaging or hurtful mission he had done in a long while. All he had turn, was something he never thought he'd do in his life.

' _You're a fool Hyoudou… a fool._ ' Never in his life did he expect to have to turn down a girl who was willing to sleep with him. Not just because he had respect for himself, but because he had respect for her. And Issei, no matter how perverted he was in life, would always be a romantic at heart.

Issei sighed, he still didn't understand why the mission had possessed a possible death penalty.

Until he realized that he hadn't gotten any alert about the mission having ended.

 _TING!_

 _TING!_

Issei's eyes widened as his Sense Danger skill went haywire, and following nothing but sheer instinct, he used Dodge and moved to the one area where he couldn't sense any incoming danger.

Less than two seconds later, Issei was grateful for his action.

 _ **BOOM!**_

Despite the fact that he had Dodged excellently, Issei was sent flying by a burst of kinetic energy that had come from behind him. He crashed into the floor, hearing the echo of **– 10 HP** as he tumbled several feet before stopping as his body made hard contact with a car. The resulting shockwave had shattered the glass on nearby glass and windows. Car alarms began blaring, adding more noise to Issei's already stinging ears which were ringing loudly within his eardrums. His eyes watered slightly as he tried to refocus his vision, the entire world spinning and turning was all he could see.

By the time his eyes had finally managed to open fully and his brain had caught up with the world, he noted, with a sense of phantom horror, that the very same Neku Supermarket he had walked out from was now on fire. The front glass of the building was all gone, the doors were blown off their hinges, but the worst, the worst was seeing people inside burn, screaming and yelling, unable to do anything as they died in the most unimaginable ways possible, a ghastly tribute to hell as they burned alive. The burning heat created a column of smoke which lead up to the sky, people had begun fleeing from the area in mad dashes shouted incomprehensible sentences.

Issei got to his feet, he quickly placed his grocery items into his inventory as a thought came to him. ' _Tsubasa!'_ he immediately used Sprint as he dashed towards the Supermarket, only to stop when he heard a large crack and spotted the roof of the building burst open.

And then he saw Tsubasa.

Her clothes were all burnt up, with nothing more than the barest parts of her underwear and bra keeping her from being totally naked, her skin looked slightly red but other than that there was seemingly no damage to her.

He however was transfixed on the most prominent feature, the two, dark bat-like wings which existed on her back, and kept her flying in the air.

' _Wings…? Why does she have wings?'_ Issei thought to himself as he tried to analyze what was going on.

"Oh-Oh Oh! She has some spunk in her after all!"

"You idiot! You'll draw every devil in the goddamned town here on our heads! Why did you have to blow up the Supermarket!"

Issei sharply turned as he spotted two new arrivals. One was a man dressed in a classic priests robe with white hair and an insane grin on his face, he stood on the ceiling of the burning building, two guns in hand as he twirled them aimlessly. The other, was dressed in a pale violet trenchcoat over a white dress shirt with a matching ascot, black pants and shoes, and a black fedora, obscuring his facial features, and he however possessed _four_ dark, crow-like wings, two on each side, keeping him in the air.

He cast a silent observe, and his eyes spotted something he'd never seen before.

 **Freed Selzen Lv. 25**

 **Race: Human**

 **Class: Rogue Exorcist**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Evil**

 **HP: 1000/1000**

 **MP: 400/400**

 **Current Status Effects: Giddy, Excited, Bloodlust, Obsessed.**

Issei's eyes widened when he saw the other man.

 **Dohnaseek Lv. 30**

 **Titles: Keeper of the Tome of Armaros**

 **Race: Fallen Angel**

 **Class: Middle-Ranked**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 1500/1500**

 **Light Magic, LM: 1000/1000**

 **Current Status Effects: Angry, Bloodlust, Impatient**

' _Exorcist? Fallen… Angel…? What the hell is a Fallen Angel? What in the world is going on here?_ ' Issei glanced over to Tsubasa and his eyes widened when he could read her stats.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: Devil [Reincarnated]**

 **Class: Low-Class – Rook**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 450/500**

 **Demonic Magic, DM: 250/250**

 **Current Status Effects: Nervous, Uncertain, Frightful**

It was as though time had stopped for Issei the second he spotted her race. She was a devil. She was a freaking devil. He didn't know what to think, there where devils in the world! All the while devils and Fallen Angels existed, so what would he-

 **Gamer's Mind Activated.**

Issei sharply caught his breath and calmed down. He had no idea what was going on, but panicking about it would do him no good. For now, he'd observe and try to gleam out whatever he could, but otherwise he'd remain inconspicuous and simply observe the bout.

"What is the meaning of this unprovoked attack? This area is protected by Sitri Family, you have no reason to be here!" she yelled out.

' _Sitri? As in Shitori Souna?_ ' Issei thought to himself.

"I told you that she wasn't a stray Selzen. You didn't listen to me. Now you've gone and drawn attention to ourselves." Dohnaseek briskly stated to the other man.

"Well then make yourself fucking useful and test the fucking shit that the boss man gave you!"

"Why Kokabiel-sama hired you, I'll never understand." The Fallen Angel muttered under his breath as a rune of light appeared in front of his hands, possessing a glyph that neither Tsubasa nor Issei had ever seen before.

' _Celtic Runes…_ ' Issei noted, somehow finding the information translated into his head. ' _Those read…'_

" _Null Void."_ Dohnaseek stated clearly, the runes in his hands spreading out in a burst of light over a huge section of the street and neighboring blocks, before vanishing into the air.

Issei wondered the purpose of the technique was until he heard Tsubasa yell out in slight pain. "What did you just do?!"

"Simple bitch-san! He disabled the ability of all devil scum to teleport in and out of this area! There's so much holy energy here right now that it weakens you with every fucking minute! I wonder how fast your friends can _run_ here before I'm done ravaging your pussy and turning your womb inside out?"

"Excellent job, Selzen, freely giving information to your enemy simply because they asked; it makes me wonder how you were considered an Exorcist Genius at the age of thirteen." Dohnaseek stated bluntly.

"Our job was to simply test the device on a stray devil and eliminate them. Now thanks to you we've tested it on a devil that isn't stray, as well as informed her of the abilities it possesses. We need to report this back to Kokabiel-sama immediately." Dohnaseek stated in a matter of fact manner.

"Fuck you and your marble sized balls crow-face! It doesn't matter to me if she's stray or if she's taken, she's a devil, I'm an exorcist, do the fucking math!"

The Fallen Angel's tone became more forced "The _fucking_ math here, is the _problem_ that you wanted to _fuck_ her brains out when you first saw her, right up until you realized that she was a devil. Then you thought she was a stray, and forgot about the mission entirely as you decided to kill her."

"Looking at her now, I say why the hell can't I fucking do both?" the Exorcist sported a malicious grin on his face as he licked his lips.

"We don't have time to waste on screwing around…" the Fallen Angel had a twitch on his lips "But knowing you, this should be over in a matter of seconds."

"Damn right it will-" Freed paused as he spotted the smirk on Dohnaseek's smug face "Oh screw fucking you asshole! I'm pretty sure you're the only fallen angel in history who fell from heaven for jerking off to Gabriel's face!"

Dohnaseek's smug grin vanished faster than it appeared. "Fuck you Selzen."

"How bout a better idea? Fuck _her._ "

Dohnaseek's nose scrunched up in disgust "I'd rather be a Sodomite than go anywhere near a devil's pus-"

He never had chance to complete his statement as a fist barreled into the side of his face, sending him crashing into the burning Supermarket.

"What the fucking hell bitch? We were having a noble villainous dialogue about which one of us would get to ravage your pussy!" Freed yelled out loud as he jumped into the air and proceeded to shoot out holy bullets at Tsubasa from his Exorcist's Gun, the Rook barely managing to avoid the projectiles.

"Did you seriously expect me to sit back and do nothing as you guys were talking about raping me? Are you retarded?" The re-incarnated devil shot back.

"Well ex _cuse_ fucking me for trying to be noble. While the villainous guys describe their plan to defeat good, the good guys have to sit back through the whole fucking shit, and when we're done, you'll be appalled and scream 'You're a monster!' or 'No please, don't put it in, I'm a virgin!'." Freed laughed maniacally as he dashed forward, turning his body into an athletic roll as he began rapidly pulling the trigger of his gun, eventually nailing Tsubasa in the wings. The holy bullets pierced through the bat-like wings with ease and left a harsh hissing noise as Tsubasa yelled out in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"Don't you know any rules of drama you cunt? You're making this far less entertaining than it should be!" The man yelled with glee as he charged at her body, she got up, slightly worse for wear but no more as she got into a basic hand to hand combat style.

Issei couldn't help but feel that the fight was absolutely pitiful. And right he was.

Tsubasa was a Rook, and no matter how sturdy a Rook might be, and how much damage a Rook could deal, it meant squat when you couldn't even touch your opponent. Freed danced around her like the chaotic person he was, his movements as nimble as the grasshopper as he discarded his gun and wielded a holy sword. He vanished and became nothing but a blur of movement as his sword struck again and again, trapping the girl in a whirlwind of slashes. Blood was flowing from her wounds as she yelled out in pain. The Holy sword slashed across Tsubasa's skin each time she missed a punch, missed a kick or failed a dodge.

"Yes! Yes! Bitch scream out in sweet agony you fucking devil cunt! I want to hear you scream out my name! I want to see you bleed! I want those eyes of yours to be nothing but despair! Scream damn it! Let out all of it! It'll be so much better when my cock is ravaging your pussy and the hilt of my sword is far up your ass! Scream!"

Tsubasa yelled in pain as the sword roughly slashed against her chest, leaving a large red gash on her breasts as he swiftly turned and stabbed her in the abdomen.

Issei might have been a lot of things, he might have been logical to an extent, he might have known that Freed was _five times_ his current level, he might have known that he was suicidal.

But one does not just merely hurt a girl's breasts in front of Hyoudou Issei.

Time slowed down as Issei realized that the only option he had, the only true way he could defeat someone _five_ times more powerful than himself, was to be as completely random and unpredictable as possible.

With that thought, Hyoudou Issei steeled his thoughts as he made his choice.

 **Chaotic Response Selected**

"Oi Exorcist!" Issei yelled as he made himself visible to the duo.

 **You have approached a Boss. Anarchy's Incarnate temporarily disabled.**

Freed stopped halfway through his rampage as he looked at the mere human who had called him. "Well a human… and a witness. This just got fucking better. What the hell do you want brat? You've got ten seconds before I slit your throat where you stand."

Tsubasa collapsed to the ground, bleeding all over as she realized that she could barely walk, much less stand. She had greatly underestimated the exorcist. Her eyes widened as she realized that Issei was there, he must have seen everything. Yet, despite knowing that he was an ordinary human boy, a spark of hope appeared in her eyes.

"You're amazing! You're taking out a monster all by yourself! You have to become my sensei! You have to give me your autograph!"

"Idiot teen say what now?" Freed paused as he glanced at the slowly approaching teen.

Tsubasa's eyes widened as she listened to his words… did he, did he just call her a monster? The spark of hope that she previously possessed died almost instantly, as well as her will to continue.

"I mean that's awesome! How do I become an Exorcist? How do I gain kick-ass powers and abilities like yours?"

Freed smirked slightly, his ego brimming with pride "Finally, someone who appreciates my talents. Well, becoming an exorcist ain't easy, you can either be like the pussies who do it by joining the Church, or you can follow the badass route and start slaying devil scum like this bitch, and you'll be recognized and awarded for your efforts."

"Oh! Wait, were you going to rape her?" Issei said slowly, getting closer to the duo.

"Yeah, you've got a fucking problem with that? Or would you want to join in?" the Exorcist sarcastically asked.

"I'd love to join in!"

Tsubasa felt her soul crushed.

"Well finally, someone who isn't a total limp dick. Come on, let's get this on, I'll take the front you take the back."

"No problem, just one question though."

"What is it? Don't fucking tell me you don't know what hole to put in, just try either one, it'll feel good either way."

"Are you speaking from personal experience?" Freed blanched and snarled.

"What the fuck did you just say brat?"

"I said I wanted to know how it feels to have Hydrogen Peroxide in your eyes."

"What the fuck are you talking-" Freed couldn't say anything else as he turned to Issei, somehow the previously unarmed teen had a bottle of the chemical in his hands, the liquid in the bottle splashed across the man's eyes, making him give out an agonized scream of pain.

"FUUUUUCK! FUCKING SHIT! I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS MOTHERFUCKER!" Freed roared out as he collapsed to the ground, clutching his eyes which burned.

Issei calmly, re-opened his inventory, never gladder in his entire life for the fact that he had gotten some bottles of the chemical during his Chemistry class earlier in the day. To add insult to injury, Issei grabbed a serving of his horribly made food which he had done earlier in the morning.

"Quickly I have water!" Freed blindly charged towards the Hyoudou, swearing obscenities as Issei swiftly dodged the man's attack, before tossing the contents of the food into his mouth, snapping the man's teeth and punching his gut.

Freed swallowed with a hard gulp.

"Cough! Cough! Oh my fucking god I've been poisoned! That was the single worst thing I have ever eaten in my entire life! That tasted worse than the diarrhea-induced shit of a diabetic goat!"

Issei's left eye brow twitched. Now he was asking for it.

The teen grabbed the blinded man by the collar and proceeded to force him feed him the badly cooked meals.

"Get Bent Asshole! This is for blowing up the supermarket! This is for all the innocent people you killed! This is for the damage you've caused! And this is for the beautiful boobs you scarred! Never! Ever! Harm! A! Girl's! Breasts!" Issei yelled as he shoved a half done piece of steak into the man's mouth and made him swallow it all. Thirty plates of bad food. He had only stopped when the blinded man had turned green in the face.

Tsubasa stared with a fascinating mix of both abject horror and morbid fascination, as plates of food literally appeared in the boy's hand as he stuffed it into the man's mouth. The man was already choking at this point, and if he did not find a way to swallow the food, he'd die of asphyxiation.

Once Issei was done, he took a step back to examine his handywork.

 **Freed Selzen Lv. 25**

 **HP: 490/1000**

 **Current Status Effects: Blinded, Stunned, Poisoned, Horrified, Diarrheic.**

"Well, never thought the day would arrive in which I had to stop an exorcist from killing a devil by making him choke on burnt steak." Issei paused slightly "Huh, now there's a sentence I'm sure has never been said by man before." He said nothing else though as he swiftly relinquished the human's weapons, his eyes practically shining with glee as he grabbed the exorcist gun and blade and stored them in his inventory.

Without bothering to turn back, Issei grabbed Tsubasa into his arms, taking her into the traditional princess style carry and activated his Sprint ability, dashing as quickly as he could away from the burning supermarket. His goal was never to win the fight, it was to ensure that he didn't lose. All he needed was to get her to safety, and then perhaps find a logical explanation for the insane things going on around him.

Issei looked at the bleeding and heavily panting form of the beautiful blue haired girl in his arms and gave a weak smile. "Sorry, I'm pretty much new to this whole devils-are-real thing. I'm not sure if I should take you to the hospital or wherever devils go when they're badly injured."

The girl managed a weak smile of her own "I never thought a day would come that you of all people would save my life Hyoudou…"

"Kindly save the dramatic monologue and confession of love for when you're not bleeding all over my school uniform. Where do I take you to?" Issei quickly asked, his eyes realizing one slight fact once he noted that his MP hadn't dropped.

Sprint was a non-combat skill.

Therefore, thanks to the Mr. Renaissance perk, it didn't cost any MP. He could literally run forever if he chose to.

"Sona's house is several blocks from here. Do you think you can make it?" she stated weakly.

Issei glanced at a rather nasty stab in her midsection, swallowing hard, he countered her "…Do you?"

She smiled slightly, "I'll try… but, whatever happens…"

Issei shook his head as he continued running. "No, don't say stuff like that. It's bad luck. You can't die. You won't die. Not yet. You hear me? I won't let you die."

She chuckled mirthlessly "I'm expendable Hyoudou. I can easily be replaced. I don't have any Sacred Gears or special talents, I can't do most things other pieces can. I'm just the tank who draws a bulk of attention away from the rest."

Issei said nothing as he listened to her continue, he wasn't entirely sure if he understood what she was talking about, but he felt it would be wrong to interrupt.

"Even you Hyoudou… a pervert who everybody thinks of as worthless, found the most insane way to defeat an exorcist, while I couldn't do anything but be a weak damsel in distress." She glanced at him, and gave him a gentle smile.

"Hey, Hyoudou."

"Hold on, we're almost there…!"

"I don't want you to die for someone as worthless as me."

"Just shut up! We're almost there…!"

"Forgive me for this, Issei."

Issei's eyes widened as he felt the girl's lips connect with his, her sweet, soft lips not entirely unlike the taste of the sea blended in with the magnificent flavor of blueberries. Her tongue tackled his, the passionate appendage having the coppery taste of blood as it passionately flavored everything his mouth had to offer.

It was his first kiss.

It was her last.

Issei could do nothing but watch as she pushed herself away from him, only now sensing the incoming danger to his own person in the form of empty echoes. It was far too late.

The spear of pure light meant for the both of them struck through, however, Tsubasa had chosen not to let an innocent bystander and human who had nothing to do with the war of factions get wrapped up into it.

The spear of light struck through, piercing through the front of her chest entirely and flying out through the back, essentially pinning her to the floor and leaving her with nothing more than blank, widened eyes as she collapsed to the ground.

And she did not move.

"T-Tsubasa… TSUBASA!" Issei ran towards her, he grabbed her body, her motionless body as he stared at the gaping hole in her chest in which a clear spear of light had pierced through.

Issei snapped his neck to the direction the spear had flown, sporting the familiar Fallen Angel that had been sent flying into the supermarket, appearing no worse for wear.

"So I assume you're the reason why my comrade is unconscious on the floor, vomit in one end and crap out the other? A mere human school boy? I find it rather preposterous." Dohnaseek stated calmly as he observed his handy-work.

Issei ignored him in favor of cradling Tsubasa's body, a girl who he had truly only known for nothing more than a few minutes spent together, yet, he felt as though she'd been together with him for years.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: Devil [Reincarnated]**

 **HP: 3/500**

 **Current Statuses: Critically Injured, Wounded, Shocked, Unconscious.**

Issei's eyes widened as he saw her Health, it hadn't reached zero yet, there was still a chance, a small spiraling chance that she would survive. With a grunt, Issei placed his hands on the light spear running through her chest, ignoring the burning and stinging sensation it had on his hands as he gave it a mighty heave.

"As though grieving the loss of a devil wasn't stupid enough, you now try to remove a spear made of light with your bare hands? Are you a retard?" Dohnaseek asked rhetorically.

"Well then, might as well make this fun." Dohnaseek grinned to himself as he created two more spears of Light.

"What are you doing? STOP!" Issei could only watch as he was backhanded away from the girl's body like a toy, as the Fallen Angel spread out the girl in a cross position.

 **-15 HP!**

"I'm proving a point to you worthless humans and spineless devils. Selzen might have underestimated you, but I guarantee I won't make the same mistake." He stated as he pinned one light spear into her palm and made it pierce deeply into the concave.

"Stop it!" Issei ran at him, attempting to use whatever he had left in his arsenal to stop the man, he dual wielded the knives he had bought, summoning them from the inventory and charging at the man's form.

Only to pale as the bladed weapons snapped, the Fallen Angel stopping them cold with only _one finger_.

"Did you think ordinary blades would work on me? Please boy." Dohnaseek scoffed as he punched Issei in the stomach, sending him rolling unto the floor.

- **20 HP!**

"The arrogance of you human scum thinking that you're the most intelligent and greatest beings on the planet is revolting. The strongest of your kind would not be worthy enough to lick the dust off my feet, and yet, you feeble worms have such an exaggerated estimation of your worth." Dohnaseek snarled as he kicked Issei into the sky once more for good measure, and then brought his hands down together in an axe strike directly at his back.

 **-35 HP!**

He harshly stomped on Issei's head, slamming it into the concrete. "I'll never understand why God had called you _things_ his perfect creation. Why he had ordered us, beings with far stronger life-spans and capabilities, to _watch_ and _protect_ you. I could not stand it. To sit down, watch and help those of you who can't lift a finger to do anything for yourselves, instead only praying and praying for _divine protection_."

 **-10 HP!**

"Of course no one else understood. You see, there was a woman involved, abducted, being tortured, being raped. I was in charge of her jurisdiction. And I watched her, day after day as she prayed. She did nothing but pray for deliverance, pray for a rescue, pray for a hero." Dohnaseek's lips turned into a contemptuous sneer.

"All she bloody did was pray, too scared to do anything else. Her torturer was nothing more than a psychotic fourteen year old boy she could have easily overpowered. The boy had often forgot to lock doors and windows, and on occasions he had even unbound her. Yet, yet…!" The man yelled as he kept kicking Issei in the face, pent up frustration being channeled through a violent outlet.

 **-5 HP!**

 **-10 HP!**

"All she did was pray! When all she had to do was walk out if she wanted to escape! All she had to do was fight! She could have punched his balls when he made her stroke his dick! She could have bit off his sac when he forcefully made her suck on his cock! And all she fucking did was pray!" Dohnaseek yelled in anger, panting slightly as he stopped kicking Issei's face.

"So I ignored her. She died. And I fell. I fell from heaven, because I chose not to help a woman too pathetic to help herself." He paused as he gave a mirthless laugh.

"If there's anything I hate worse than devils in this world, it's a weak human who can't do anything for themselves." The man spat in Issei's face, as he dragged the teen across the floor and made him keep his eyes on Tsubasa.

"Now, observe as how you were too weak to do anything but watch someone you care about suffer." The Fallen Angel smashed Issei's face into the concrete as charged light magic into his hands.

"When the house of the Sitri sees this, all the needed friction for the Great War would finally be put in place. Kokabiel-sama would be very pleased as to how I helped bring back his dream. A world in which there is a never ending war on earth between factions, and humans are nothing more than livestock used for our amusement." Dohnaseek smirked as he created another light spear, slamming it into her second palm, pinning her to the pavement.

Issei was in pain, his body hurt all over and he was only lucky enough to have a Gamer's Body which prevented lasting injuries, yet, the physical pain of his nose breaking a dozen times was unbearable. His Gamer's Mind was working on overdrive to keep him from breaking down. At this point he had no idea as to what else he could use in his inventory that would be of any use. He had no real combat skills except basics and the man in front of him had already proven his toughness as _steel_ kitchen knives had broken against his _finger_ like glass. What use was all his skills now? Would knowing how to play a violin or craft a sword save Tsubasa? Would knowing how to solve some of the world's most complicated equations stop the monster that was the Fallen Angel in front of him to resist from his assault? What good was all that knowledge, all that illusion of power if he couldn't even defeat a mook of a Fallen Angel?

"Now for the finishing touch!" The man said to himself as he had placed the girl's two legs on each other, formed a final holy spear, and then slammed it into her feet, letting her give a gurgled cry of pain as the holy element nailed her to the concrete.

Issei stared, unable to feel sorrow or despair as he stared and realized that never in his entire life had he felt so absolutely useless. Was this the gap in power between a human and a Fallen Angel? Was he destined to be so weak?

"She's still alive apparently. I'm impressed. She deserves a reward for lasting this long doesn't she?" Issei struggled as the Fallen Angel effortlessly lifted him up by his shoulder with one hand, and forced him to stare at the naked, bruised and bleeding form of the roughly crucified devil.

Issei had a glimmer of hope in his eyes as he realized that she was still alive. Perhaps there was a way to get out of this scenario, a lucky escape, a form of reinforcements. They'd still make it out alive. As long as she was alive, he had hope.

Right up until a spear of light pierced straight through her skull.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: Devil [Reincarnated]**

 **HP: 0/500**

 **Current Statuses: Deceased.**

The blood drained from his face. Issei tore away from his captor as he stared at her body, his entire form shaking, unable to do anything else.

 **Error! Gamer's Mind already maxed.**

 **Error! Gamer's Mind already maxed.**

 **Error!**

 **Error!**

 **Error!**

 **Error! Error! Error!**

The notifications all turned blue.

 **BZZT!**

 **Due to a severe glitch in the system, Gamer's Mind has been temporarily deactivated.**

Hyoudou Issei cast his gaze up to the heavens…

And screamed.

A torrent of emotions flooded through his mind, cycling rapidly from guilt, regret, remorse, and the largest one, sorrow. He screamed as his eyes widened and his pupils shrunk, tears freely flowing from his eyes as he stared at the girl's body. He screamed like a man who had lost his life in the depths of hell, forever doomed to torture, again and again, unable to stop himself from repeating the same cycle. He screamed like a man who was a ghost of his former self, trapped in an unending loop of his greatest fears and nightmares, for days, months, years, and eons. Only to realize, that once it had all ended, it began again.

And then he laughed.

Mad, incoherent laughter as he cackled like a being that had been unable to feel joy in his existence, his laughter was deranged and hollow, like the empty screeching of nails against a dark chalkboard. Like the screeching of demented house cat, he laughed with reckless abandon, yet, his face displayed anything but happiness.

And then, he grinned.

Dohnaseek's eyes widened as a spear of light was pulled out of the girl's body, the human teen holding it in his hands with no care for his own wellbeing as it clearly cut into his flesh and scarred into his soul.. The spear of light, powerful as it was, was coated with the blood of a devil, and Issei didn't even think twice before stabbing himself with the spear.

"Mystify. Observe. Kami's Fingers."

Dohnaseek paused as he stared at the strangely human teen who had clearly lost his mind, muttering out weird words and sentences, and had apparently committed seppuku, because no human would survive being stabbed with a light-spear. Regardless, there existed a particular gleam to his eye that Dohnaseek could not explain, it showed the eyes of a man who felt he had nothing to lose.

And Dohnaseek had learned to fear that look.

"…There is one thing that sets us humans apart from you."

Dohnaseek stared at the insane boy in front of him "And what would that be?"

"We can evolve." Issei stabbed the spear deeper into his own stomach, before he muttered a simple word.

" _Larceny_."

A shockwave of power exploded outwards as energy swirled around the teen, the energy turned and swiveled until it became a massive column of light and darkness, the two opposite elements swirling around him, creating a perfect contrast of light and darkness.

 _PING!_

 **Chaos. The Ultimate Element in terms of unpredictability and randomness. It can be your greatest ally or your worst nightmare. And you are its Incarnate.**

 **Through the combination of a particular skill set, a high enough Intelligence score and the ingenious use of your ability to steal, you have gained two new pools of energy to call upon at your bidding, you have unlocked the ability to use Light Magic! You have unlocked the ability to use Demonic Magic!**

 _PING!_

 **Through sheer determination and indomitable will, a sacred gear has been unlocked! You have unlocked the Boosted Gear! [Doubles your base level and stats every ten seconds, ?, ?, ?]**

 _PING!_

 **You have unlocked a forbidden ability!**

 **Gained ability, Hallowed Eclipse.**

"Impossible! Impossible! No Sacred Gear should be powerful enough to do what you have just done! None!" Dohnaseek yelled out in utter shock as his body trembled. There was no denying it however, within this mere human, he could feel the power of a devil, the power of an angel, and the power of a dragon.

He had the potential to become one of the most powerful beings in existence.

' _I must eliminate him immediately! This abomination must not live to see the next day!_ '

Dohnaseek roared out as he charged, spear of light forming in his hand as he approached the teen shrouded in energy.

 _ **Boost!**_ **You have been Boosted to Level 10!**

Dohnaseek's eyes widened as he realized the teen was no longer there, his spear passing through the area where he had been as though nothing existed in that vacuum.

"Too slow." Dohnaseek turned, spotting the teen behind him, the left half of his hair pitch black as the most starless of nights, while the right half was a pure white like the raging snowstorm of the Artic winter. Even his normal eyes had changed, the eye under right side of his black side of hair was white, and the eye under the left side of his white hair was black. His gauntlet was sparkling with both demonic and holy energy, the previously green hue on the dragon themed Gear having turned into a black orb possessing a yin-yang symbol that roared madly with barely restrained power.

Dohnaseek winced as he felt his face snap to the side from the punch the teen had given him. The Fallen Angel snarled as he floated into the air and relocated his broken jaw. He charged forward, exchanging blows with the teen who also approached him.

Two fists slammed into each other, creating a shockwave of energy that shattered apart the _concrete_ floor as though it was made of glass.

 _ **Boost!**_ **You have been Boosted to Level 20!**

 **Warning! Approaching Boost Limit! User's MP Depleting!**

The two figures became nothing but a blur of black and gray, and at certain times, they would clash in the middle, a fist blocking a kick, a palm catching a punch, a gauntlet countering a spear.

Dohnaseek blurred out of vision as he created two spears of light in his hands and wielded them as blades, snarling when he saw his opponent do the same, only with actual blades of energy, the one on the his right being made of holy energy, and the one on the left being demonic.

The two clashed in a contest of wills, blades meeting each other in a violent spark as Dohnaseek found himself being bushed backwards. He disengaged and attempted a dual overhead strike, only to balk as he realized his opponent was now behind him.

' _He got faster…? How?'_

The four-winged Fallen Angel growled as he soared into the sky, and threw the spears at the teen with maximum force. His eyes doing nothing but widening in shock as the spears of light dissipated seconds before they could contact the teen.

 _ **Boost!**_ **You have been Boosted to Level 40! Maximum Boost Limit For This Level Reached!**

 **HP Depleting! LM Depleting! DM Depleting!**

Dohnaseek could do nothing but experience agonizing pain as the boy had doubled in speed once more, this time far outpacing the Fallen Angel as not even Dohnaseek's eyes could spot him anymore as he landed a dual slash across the man's face. The Fallen Angel snarled in pain as he realized he was fighting a battle he could no longer win. It was too late to retreat however, as the younger teen had turned his entire body into a ping-pong ball, punching him from one side, and then re-appearing at another to kick him, leaving him in the air in constant motion as his bones broke piece by piece, his muscles tore tendon from tendon, and his limbs shattered one by one.

Dohnaseek roared out in anger as he felt himself dying. "This is impossible! You are a mere human with a sacred gear! Do not think yourself a god boy! Humans are weak! Can a human stand up to enemies on their own? Can a human stand side by side with beings in the claim for diving power? Can a human control the fate of the world as he wishes and change it's course on a whim? Can a human defeat a god?!"

Issei paused as his cold, power-induced heterochromia possessed eyes stared down Dohnaseek and asked, in the lightest tone possible. "…Can _you?_ "

No emotion in the world could describe the shattered gaze Dohnaseek wore, his eyes frozen in the darkest abyss of time, unable to proceed, unable to comprehend and unable to exist. He could do nothing more but stare, with those same phantom eyes as his doom approached him.

"Critical Strike." Issei landed a reality shattering punch with his gauntlet covered to Dohnaseek's stomach, the man's eyes calmly realizing that those words might be the last thing he ever heard.

Time seemed to have stopped at that moment, sound ceased to exist, light had been swallowed up in a vacuum and it was as though the entire world and transitioned to the monochrome tranquility of black and white. The shockwave from the punch could be heard throughout all of Kuoh like the echo of a massive thunder strike, yet, in an ironic way, the shockwave had cleared _every single cloud in a_ _five_ _mile radius_ out of the sky. Any object composing of glass or possessing similiar brittle properties within th range of the attack had simultaneous shattered once the shockwave traveled through the city.

The incident would forever be known in the city as an urban unexplainable phenomenon. It would later be referred to by scientists to come as _Kami no Hoko. _

_The Roar of God._

The greatest damage done by the impact however, was to Dohnaseek himself, as his entire body folded in half like a compressible chair, every single bone in his body breaking from the force of the hit as he slammed into the pavement, generating a crater nearly 25 feet in diameter.

' _I'm glad… Null Void… has a failsafe…'_ the Fallen Angel thought as he could do nothing but watch in pain as his left hand was pinned by a sword of demonic energy, his right hand was pinned by a sword of holy energy and spotted the teen charging at him with his hand outstretched for the finishing blow that would end his life.

Only for Issei to growl in anger as a portal opened in the ground and sucked Dohnaseek into it, leading to Issei's attack slamming into the empty concrete. A massive cloud of dust erupted from the point of contact, going up into the sky like a nuke-shaped cloud as it blanketed the entire neighborhood.

Issei disengaged his fist from the earthy soil with a heave as slowly walked over to the fallen form of the blue-haired teen, effortlessly dissipating the Light Spears which bound her to the ground.

He glanced at the skull, the bloody, damaged and clearly dead skull of his first kiss. Tsubasa was dead.

A notification came up to the forefront of his vision, and his eyes widened.

And at that moment he made his choice.

Issei moved towards her as he forced himself to activate the one ability he hoped would work before his power up faded. He could already feel it waning by the time he had ended his 'fight'.

Kami's Fingers lit up as Issei prepared to meld the damage done to the devil, only to pause when a hand placed itself upon his.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that."

Issei turned, spotting a tall, blue-eyed, blond-haired man in a long dark robe. Before he could respond, the man flicked him across the head with his finger. Issei could do nothing but collapse as he felt all the power boosts drain from his system. He couldn't even muster up the strength to speak anymore.

"Trust me, you're a newbie at healing. You'll probably end up bringing her back brain dead if I had let you continue."

The man tossed him over his shoulder, as well as delicately carried the body of the dead girl into his arms.

 **Quest Completed! For All It's Worth!**

Issei ignored the notification in favor of being exhausted, not even bothering to open it.

"So all this, for a jug of milk? Murphy's Law is a real bitch."

Issei almost snapped his neck as to how quickly he turned to glance at the man carrying him and spotting him _close_ _his notifications_.

Issei forced himself to rasp out in a weak voice "W-who are you?"

The young man grinned, Issei noting that his previously blue eyes where now a shiny metallic purple.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Pleasure to finally meet you, 'Gamer'."

 **Congratulations! You have now completed the** _ **tutorial**_ **.**

 **Difficulty level** _ **[Easy]**_ **has now been set to** _ **[Hard].**_

It was in those few seconds Hyoudou Issei realized a daunting fact.

His life was not just a video game.

It was the hardest game in existence.

 **Checkpoint Reached. Game Saved.**

 **Congratulations! You have fully unlocked the world of DxD!**

 **Welcome to Dragon of Dragons - Game of the Year Edition.**

 **~~~~~~~ DxD - GOTY ~~~~~~~~**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **And THIS Ladies and Gentlemen, is how you write a God Damned Video Game Fic!**

 **Yes, my ego is swelling just a bit from reading your lovely reviews.**

 **Any way, this chapter concludes the Introductory Arc of this wonderful fic. Season 1, or Main Story Arc, will begin on the one month Anniversary of this Fic, which will be on the 31st. Mostly because of College. Damn College. I _might_ update earlier than that, but if I don't, I'll unfailingly update on that day.**

 **In case it isn't obvious yet, I powered Dohnaseek up and gave him a more compelling backstory because I can't recall a single story in which he has one or in which he is discussed as a character. Most just treat him as the hat mook of mooks. That, and here Kokabiel isn't going to be as stupid as in canon.**

 **To anyone who doesn't believe Issei would go insane if he failed to save a girl he only met and talked with for a few hours, I have two words for you: Asia Argento. Canon Issei knew her for all of three days before he decided to attack a church to save her life at the risk of his own.**

 **Now imagine, what would happen if he failed to save the life of his first kiss?**

 **Either way, Issei's upgraded stats will be revealed next time as well as Naruto's role in all this. Hope you enjoyed the rollercoaster of emotions and fun provided by this little story, and see you all in time for the launch of Season 1!**

 **Yeah... I've been playing just a little too much of The Walking Dead and Life Is Strange haven't I...**

 **Love you all!**

 **R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	6. An Uzumaki In Kuoh

**A/N: So I'm back. Yipee. Forgive my lack of enthusiasm, this is normally where I'd give an excuse for why I defaulted on my update schedule, but this is the internet, and no one gives a damn about your problems, be it someone kicking your dog or shooting your bloody cousin. Regardless of which, I finally regained a level head to type this chapter simply to provide a brief escape from reality.**

 **Either~way, to those claiming that Issei's power-up was too sudden and too fast, please recall, that this is the same guy who got powerful enough to punch and injure Kokabiel, simply because Rias promised to let him fondle her boobs. This is also the same guy, that was able to fight equally with Vali Lucifer, someone who easily outclassed him, simply because Azazel told him that Vali would shrink Rias's boobs. So if his first kiss was to die, you don't think he would get that strong that fast? Forgive me if I find your claims highly ludicrous.**

 **Some people hate Naruto and feel he shouldn't be in this fic. Some people love him and feel Issei should die. I'm neutral, but yet Naruto is necessary in this fic, and so, he shall be in this fic. Please note however, that if you are expecting a bubbly blond haired happy-go-lucky idiot, then stop reading. Naruto here is so different from canon you'll notice it instantly.**

 **Now let's start the second arc shall we?**

* * *

The universe was a vast place, neither constrained by rules nor bound by any entity. It was the location of every being in existence, every farmer and forager, every hero and coward, every saint, every sinner, every warlord or conqueror, every man and every god. The universe held it all, it was the platform for which all forms of life existed. Yet, since the foundation of the universe which was time immemorial, there existed always one tiny event, one inconsequential action or one small error that would serve to shake it to its core.

This time around, the reason for the universe's fragmentation would begin and it would end with the choices of one boy. One little boy, one insignificant human amongst a multitude of human beings, he was one boy who possessed the catalyst for the end, the ultimate Sacred Gear, the God Gear of Longinus, the Sacred Gear of Sacred Gears. The Exodus Switch.

Alas, to the boy, it was a game.

To the rest of the world, it was the apocalypse.

With but the action of a single fallen angel, so began the beginning of the end, the Genesis of Revelations.

Codex Entry, No. _**?**_

* * *

~~~~~~ **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition** ~~~~~~

 **Arc Two**

 **An Uzumaki in Kuoh**

* * *

 **Kingdom of Heaven**

There was a momentary shake in the kingdom of heaven as lights flashed constantly. The lights flickered on and off, as the halos on the heads of angels where left to be the only thing illuminating the kingdom. But as quickly as it had started, the flickering vanished and the kingdom returning to its tranquil state.

In which the angels found themselves all panicking as they rushed towards the only person who might explain to them as to why or how the _lights_ in _heaven_ had been flickering.

Gabriel led the charge as she burst through the large golden doors and entered the throne room of the almighty, albeit, it was no longer inhabited by that being.

"Michael…"

The Leader of the Angels said nothing as he glanced to the worried expression on the face of Archangel Gabriel, before smiling.

"It seems that our fragile era of insecurity and hesitation is over."

Michael smiled "A new era is about to begin."

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Hell**

 **Underworld**

Sirzechs Lucifer sat in silence as he stared at his counterparts and fellow Satans. A minor shockwave had rocked the entire underworld seconds ago, and he had the slightest suspicion as to what it could have been.

Serafall Leviathan frowned as she glanced at him "Mou, did you feel that?"

Ajuka Beelzebub said nothing as he removed a stray hair from the side of his face. His presence there was the only indication that the shockwave had not been their imagination.

"It seems that we have a rather rare case here."

"Can we trace the origin of that energy?"

Ajuka shook his head "Whatever it was, it somehow cloaked itself. There isn't any chance of us finding it right now."

Sirzechs sighed "Just when I thought we could finally have peace in the world, this happens…"

"At the very least, we now know…" Ajuka stated slowly as he glanced into the sky.

"The future is beginning to move forward."

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

* * *

 **You have slept on a Couch. HP and MP have been 75% restored.**

Issei jumped up with a start, rapidly glancing towards his surroundings to find himself in a mansion he had never seen before. He tried to remember what had happened, and instantly the images of the events of the night rushed through his head.

He instantly glanced at his watch, and almost let a sigh of relief when he realized that only two hours had passed.

The rush of information was maddening. Images streamed through his dead like data, he found himself remembering the impossible things that had occurred, devils and angels being real, exorcists trying to kill him, and he himself, he faintly recalled utterly curb-stomping the hell out of a fallen angel. He tried to make sense of it all, his head aching as he found himself breathing hard, his chest rising and falling as he took in harsh breathes of air.

 _PING!_

 **Glitch has been corrected. Gamer's Mind now re-activated.**

An unearthly calm overtook Issei as he regained himself and allowed the memories, which were like a gushing tap, to flow smoothly, as though channeling oil through a funnel. He remembered now, something about a Sacred Gear, and he remembered the state of power he had attained, especially what he had used to attain it.

Mystify was an ability that stunned the viewers with actions one who was sane would not possibly think of performing. In using it, Issei had done something he probably wouldn't have thought of on his own. He stabbed himself with a spear of light, coated with the blood of a devil.

He had then used Observe, confirming that the spear of light and turned into a game item due to its contact with Issei's own blood. It had displayed itself as a crafting item, a spear of light and the blood of a devil, which could be used to craft something of value.

With that knowledge in mind, he proceeded to use Kami's Fingers, which, despite the other perverted uses, had the ability to heal wounds with a touch. The issue however, was that Gamer's Body ensured that he didn't have any physical damage to his body, except for when he had a status effect such as bleeding. There was a brief window of opportunity, in which the _second_ he attained the bleeding status effect, Gamer's Body would deactivate and reactivate instantly. So, he had _healed_ his stab, _while_ the blood coated spear was still in his gut, _before_ his body returned to its video game form. This meant that he had permanently sealed the energy within his body.

The coup de grace of the entire process was Larceny, which granted him the ability to steal, by storing stuff within his personal inventory. There was, however, no rule ever stating that he could only steal _physical_ items. It was all a matter of taking a gamble to see, what would happen if he 'stole' energy in the form of his opponent's attack.

Issei knew that his Intelligence and Wisdom scores, coupled with his high Observe ability were possibly the only reasons he had successfully pulled off such a crazy stunt. He had lost control afterwards, the power and his rage, frustration, confusion and misery that had been bottled up by the Gamer's Mind had been completely unleashed, and he simply wanted to vent out all his emotions on the nearest possible target. Dohnaseek was simply unlucky to have been there.

Recalling his mind back to the present and blinking with no small amount of confusion, he glanced to his environment and found himself in a house he did not recognize, sitting on a couch he had never seen before.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Hard Mode has been selected. Several new features have been installed and updated. These features will be displayed after the sequence.**

 **Several notifications have been temporarily disabled to enable maximum flow of story mode. Complete the current sequence to re-enable.**

' _Sequence? Story Mode? Since when has there been a story mode?'_ Issei closed the notifications as he calmly recalled how the entire battle had ended. After defeating Dohnaseek, he had wanted to heal Tsubasa, but he had been stopped by a man. Yes, it had been a tall blond man with blue eyes that had turned metallic purple, and could both see and interact with his game. Issei felt as though he knew the man from somewhere, there was this nagging feeling like as though they had met before, but he couldn't recall.

"Yo gaki! Awake already? Then again, I suppose it's to be expected when you have video game powers."

Issei sprang up from the couch he was in and turned to stare at the man, whose name was Uzumaki Naruto, if he could properly recall. He was now dressed casually in a dark-blue shirt, and a burnt-orange jacket, a pair of black sneakers adored his feet, and his spiky blonde hair gave way to his eyes, which were now blue.

"Want something to eat? I've got ramen~!" he stated cheerily as he walked towards him with a bowl of instant noodles in his hand.

'Observe' Issei thought almost automatically.

 **Uzumaki Naruto Lv. ?**

' _What? Just his name is displayed_? _Why can't I see his level?_ ' alarm bells went off in Issei's head as his gut instinct told him that being unable to see the man's level was a very bad omen.

 **Observe is not high enough to view more information.**

 **You do not possess a high-enough level to view more information.**

Issei swallowed hard.

In his entire time of playing the game, no one had been too high in level for him to be unable to scan. Yet, this Naruto seemed to be the exception to the rule. Perhaps he had answers? Yes, Issei's mind thought. He could have answers to the questions he needed to desperately ask. He could have answers to why his life was a video game, and why Fallen Angels, Devils and Exorcists that were supposed to be fantasy, were all real.

"Where's Tsubasa?" Issei was somewhat surprised at himself. The logical part of him had a thousand and one questions he could possibly ask, yet, the only one he had managed to utter, was the one his heart had spoken.

The blonde man, who looked to be twenty-one at the most, slurped his noodles with a satisfying smack. "Well, you passed out after exhausting all your energy, so I brought you back to my house with your little girlfriend."

"That wasn't really an answer and Tsubasa's… not exactly my girlfriend." Issei responded uncertainly. She was his first kiss, and they had shared a passionate moment with each other, but he wasn't sure he could call her his girlfriend.

"Well she's certainly not anyone's girlfriend now that she's dead."

There was a moment of silence in which nothing but the smacking of lips and slurping of noodles could be heard Issei's mind traveled in slow motion as it tried to comprehend the information. Tsubasa was dead. Tsubasa was dead. He didn't save her. He couldn't save her. After everything that had happened? What was it all worth? What was it all for?

"Oops, I suppose that was one of those things that I'm supposed to say seriously, with the accompanying dramatic music and dim lighting… my bad. Ah well, this ramen though…" The blonde blinked as he slurped a stray noodle from his chin.

Issei didn't even realized when he had moved. A liberal use of Sprint dashed him across the room as he grabbed the blonde by the collar of his jacket and screamed into his face "What the hell in the world do you mean by she's dead!"

"When someone's heart stops pumping and their brain functions cease, their soul departs from the living world. We call the phenomenon: death." Naruto responded dryly.

Due to the effect of the Gamer's Mind, there was no actual anger in Issei's voice, but rather it was the absurdity of the scenario that ticked him off. The blonde-haired douchebag had the guts to be so sarcastic.

"First, you're an asshole." Issei bluntly stated, Naruto merely shrugged, neither confirming nor denying the allegation.

"Second, why in the world would you come in and stop me from saving her, and then fail to do it yourself?"

"Well, if I had let you back then, you'd have brought her back as a retard, which would probably be worse than death. So I decided to help out… until I realized that the Outer Path can only restore her body and can't do anything about her soul."

Issei's tried to rationalize what he was saying, and although he didn't know what the 'Outer Path' was, he was able to understand it based on the context. Was it a technique that could revive the dead? Was the blonde also a gamer like himself? Several questions rushed through Issei's brain as he decided on which one to choose.

"Why can't you restore her soul?"

Naruto gave him a bland look "Because she's not _human._ And hell if I know where devils go when they die."

Issei's face dropped as he suddenly recalled very clearly, that Tsubasa had wings, and was in fact a devil. The fact that his first kiss had been with a devil did not bother him in the slightest. There was no evil in her, nothing to mistrust. She was someone who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Issei slowly unhanded the blonde as he calmly sat down on the couch. Yet, he realized with bitter irony, that he could feel no sense of loss, no regret, no sadness. The Gamer's Mind disabled them all.

He could feel nothing, but total and utter emptiness.

It was horrible.

"So… she's gone..."

Naruto glanced at the teen and then calmly tossed his empty plastic bowl into the trash can.

"Here's the thing… she's not exactly 'gone' yet."

Issei's head whipped back to the blonde so quickly it was a miracle it didn't snap.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, normally, when you die, your body turns cold, you empty your bowels and basically stink and start rotting."

Issei scrunched up his nose but couldn't speak before he was interrupted.

"However, minus the cold body, nothing else implied that she's dead. Well… at least before I patched her brain back together. My only guess is that she must have had some form of interaction with you that affected her."

At that moment Issei fondly remembered their kiss. He chuckled slightly at the irony, the kiss Tsubasa gave, intending to be her last, ended up being the one thing that would save her life.

Naruto continued "Well, the best I could say, is that she somehow turned into what I can guess is a 'Quest Item'."

Issei's mind already put the pieces together "In games, Quest Items are things which can't usually be destroyed, trashed, sold or given away. Occasionally, people can become quest items, and they are given certain statuses as immortal objects!"

Naruto glanced at him vacantly "I already know all that. You already know all that. Why bother saying it at all? It's not like there's an audience watching or reading this stuff anyway." the blonde shook his head "Well, I can't bring back her soul, but you probably can."

Issei's eyes sparkled with determination "How?"

"You have the access to both demonic and holy magic in you. Using the right amount of the two, you should be able to bring her back." The blonde opened the can, and dug into his second serving.

"Well that, or you'll probably just learn a skill like 'Regroup Allies' or 'Raise Dead' or 'Resurrect' or whatever convenient plot device that usually allows stuff like this to happen- Gah how'd I get the sushi flavored ramen?" the blond frowned in distaste as he reluctantly continued to devour the noodle broth. Ramen was ramen, and it could not be wasted, regardless of the flavor.

' _Would it be possible?'_ Issei thought silently to himself. His life was a video game after all, so would he be able to revive the dead with his abilities. Could he? Like a Cleric in the Dungeons and Dragons games, could he revive people who had died? Did the game have that kind of power? Would he take the chance?

He didn't even think twice.

"I'll do it." he stated confidently, no room for doubt, his mind steeled on the goal. He would revive Tsubasa, no matter the cost.

Naruto nodded, still eating his ramen, he gestured with his chopsticks "Alright then. Follow me."

The duo went further into the house, up the stairs, down a corridor until they walked into a room. Issei sported the familiar mop of blue hair that was Tsubasa and immediately dashed to her side. She was thankfully dressed in a long loose gown that though was transparent and gave Issei quite the view of her naked form. If he cared enough to look that is, as his eyes were transfixed permanently on her face.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: Devil [Reincarnated]**

 **HP: 0/500**

 **Current Statuses: Deceased.**

If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed she was sleeping.

"So… what am I supposed to do?" he asked uncertainly as he approached her body.

"Hmm… place one hand on her chest, and the other on her head. Then… use that glowing finger technique you used to pleasure that Fallen Angel earlier today, but try using it with demonic energy."

Issei did as told and placed his hands on Tsubaki, almost flinching from how cold her forehead was, and realizing that her heart wasn't beating. Just as he was about to use his Kami's Fingers he felt as though he'd failed an intelligence check. Then it suddenly hit him.

"How did you know-"

"Shh… Talk later; for now, focus."

Issei grumbled inaudibly as he realized that he would be having a long talk with the Uzumaki afterwards. With but a thought, he activated the technique. Just as he did, he noted Naruto's eyes turned back to a metallic purple as he slammed his palm over Issei's own. Issei felt a rush of power drive through him from the action, the power boost he momentarily gained easily dwarfed what he had used to defeat Dohnaseek.

 _PING!_

 **Through the aid of manipulating an otherwise seemingly unimportant skill, changing its form and purpose to be suited to your needs, a new Skill has been unlocked! Revive [Active] Lv. 1**

 **This is a skill to resurrect the dead and fallen companions, drawing their souls from the realm beyond and fixing their mortal bodies at your leisure. They will however, become 'bound' to you after they have been revived and at the first twenty levels, it can only be used once a month.**

Issei's eyes enlarged as the notification flashed itself in his vision and vanished. The room was filled with a bright, bursting light that momentarily blinded its occupants, and left a resonating powerful aura in the building.

Once the light died down, Issei noted, with no small amount of elation, that the girl's chest had regained a slowly moving rhythm, and he could feel her heart beating once more.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: Devil [Reincarnated]**

 **HP: 500/500**

 **Current Statuses: Asleep.**

"I did it! She's alive!" Issei beamed as he felt a rush of joy at his achievement. Tsubasa was peacefully asleep, but she was alive. She was alive and breathing well.

"Yep, you did it all on your own. Without any help from some guy who channeled the energy needed to bring her back to life."

Issei sheepishly scratched the back of his head "Thanks for helping me."

Naruto merely shrugged "I only wished it hadn't been so anticlimactic… and after all that build-up. Oh well, I suppose if you hadn't been able to revive her, this tale would have gone pretty dark, pretty fast."

Issei promptly scowled at the man who was making less sense by the minute "Who _are_ you?"

The blonde man laughed as he tossed his empty bowl of ramen into the air and stretched out his palm, with his eyes turning blue once more "I am the man who has walked on the moon, bitch-slapped Gilgamesh, drank Dionysus under the table and cheated on Aphrodite with Amaterasu." He leaped and spun "I walked on water before it was cool, I caught lightning in a bottle, set fire to water, made it snow in hell and rain porn in heaven… Tons of _fallen_ angels still hate me for that one though."

He smirked as he back-flipped "I am the Sage who defied the laws of physics, the man who can shatter the wall separating the realms of fantasy and reality; My name has been on the lips of death so many times, I got bored and French-kissed it. I am the Seventh Hokage of the village of Konohagakure no Sato! I am the legendary sage, shinobi, and writer!"

"I am…!"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Issei bluntly stated.

There was a moment of brief silence that occurred after Issei sharply interrupted him, as the air grew heavy with a thick, yet highly awkward air that had the consistency of soup.

 _SLAM!_

 **-200 HP!**

"What the bloody hell! That hurt!" Issei yelled out in pain as Naruto had simply tapped him on the head and sent his face smacking into the floor with the speed of a moving train.

"Well next time don't ruin a dramatic monologue! Do you know how much work it takes to get those things done right?"

Issei groaned as he shakily rose to his feet "You were almost done anyway!"

Naruto scratched his chin as he caught the empty bowl he had tossed into the air with a finger "Well, I had almost reached the part where I'd usually summon a large toad beneath my feet and do my introduction with shadow clones playing musical instruments in the background. But… like the toads, most of the summon clans went extinct centuries ago."

"Shadow… clones? Large toad? Summon clans? You're not making any sense." Issei shook his head "Are you also a gamer? Did you also wake up one morning with powers?"

"Were you listening to anything I said kid? I am obviously…"

Issei's eyes widened. This was the moment of truth, the moment he'd been waiting for, was Uzumaki Naruto a-

"Not a gamer."

Issei's face fell along with the hopes and dreams of a multitude of people. "Then how can you see my notifications? How did you interact with them when no one else can?"

Naruto smirked and then pointed to his eyes "My eyes are _one_ of the reasons." Slowly, his eyes morphed from the blue form back to a metallic purple with several rings within it.

"These eyes are called the Rinnegan. They can see the energy that exists in every living thing, and as well as do much more. Your 'gamer' ability is a massive construct that draws natural energy from the very atmosphere and solar energy from the sun. Also, it draws from two other sources I can't identify, to power itself."

Issei slowly contemplated the information, glad to have an intelligence score high enough for him to understand most of what Naruto was saying, though he looked slightly confused at 'natural energy'.

"Though the other sources mask up your presence and power, you are a walking personification of natural energy. If not for the other energy sources, even a green rookie at the art of Senjutsu would be able to sense you for miles with how much of the natural energy you consume."

"Senjutsu? Natural Energy? I've never heard of those terms before…"

Naruto groaned in exasperation, before a thought sprung to his mind. Drawing up his sleeve, he revealed his arm which was covered with several tattoos and seals. He activated a particular seal on his arm which conjured a puff of smoke. Once the smoke cleared, a large pile of books appeared in his hands.

"Here, these books should provide you with everything you need to know about the supernatural world, and about pretty much everything else. There should be a couple of skill books in there too. Once you've read it all, it'll be much easier to get all this over with."

Issei collected the books, almost groaning at the weight. He made a mental note to work on his Strength stats as he immediately deposited it all into his inventory without a second thought.

"The books still won't answer questions like how you knew about my Kami's Finger techniques, where you come from and why you helped me."

Naruto exhaled "I really don't have time to play ten questions with you. I have things to do and places to be. Someone has been supplying a certain figure of the Fallen Angel faction with ancient runes, which they have been modifying to their advantage. I'd ask you to help… but there's too much you're still ignorant about."

"Well at least try to explain _something!_ " Issei groused.

Naruto purely beamed "You're so weak right now that even if I did explain everything to you, you'd be more of a hindrance than a help. So, here's my deal. Reach at least level thirty within the next month, and I'll answer all your questions. If you don't…"

His eyes reflected the light streaming into the room and there was an honest-to-god smirk on his face. "… _you'll die_."

 _PING!_

 **New Main Quest!**

 **How to Train Your Dragon!**

 **The Mysterious Sage, Uzumaki Naruto, will answer all your questions and more, but first he has tasked you reach at least Level 30 within one month… or else!**

 **Main Objective: Reach level 30 before the month is over using any means at your disposal!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: Increased Relationship with the Devil Faction, Increased Relationship with the Angel Faction, Increased Relationship with the Yokai Faction, A new Skill, ? ? ? ? ? ?.**

 **Bonus Rewards: 3000 EXP per Bonus Objective, ? ? ?**

 **Failure: Certain Death, Game Over.**

 **This Quest Can Not Be Ignored.**

 **(** _ **Y/**_ N **)**

Issei swallowed the lump in his throat as he accepted the quest. The world sharply returned to color and he noted the Uzumaki moving again.

"Now, it's been a rather long night, so it's time for you and your little girlfriend to go home and go have some rest."

Issei glowered as before he could ask any more questions, the blonde sage snapped his fingers and Issei found himself blinded by a golden light. He felt all his strength leave him as the world returned to darkness.

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **You have slept in your bed. HP and MP have been fully restored.**

Issei groaned as he sat up from his bed, blankly noting that he was back in his room, as accompanied by his alarm clock. He cursed the sly blonde Uzumaki under his breath, and hoped that he had safely returned Tsubasa home. Before he could stretch his legs out of bed, he was immediately assaulted with several walls of text.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Sequence Complete! Notifications have been fully re-enabled!**

 **Tutorial Mode Over!**

 **Codex Unlocked!**

 **Butterfly Quests Unlocked!**

 **Bounty Quests Unlocked!**

 **Millennium Theater Unlocked!**

 **Factions Unlocked!**

 **World Map Unlocked!**

 **Sacred Gear Unlocked!**

 **Sentient life has been found within the Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear. Would you like to enable communications?**

 **(Y/N)**

"What the hell?" Issei thought as he wondered what was going on. Reluctantly, he pressed yes.

 **Communications Enabled.**

 **Butterfly Quest Completed!**

 **For All It's Worth!**

"Butterfly quest? What does that mean?"

 **In the Game of The Year Edition, a new feature had been unlocked called Butterfly Quests. These are quests which have an extremely large impact on the story line, but are disguised as seemingly menial chores or tasks, in which the outcome of the quest will depend primarily on whether or not you feel up to it. These quests are tricky to spot, but they usually garner large experience points and have huge failure penalties. So be sure to accept any quest you can!**

 **Primary Objective: Your mother wants you to get some milk for her after school. Don't forget! Oh and beware of intelligent cats. Complete! Gained 500 EXP!**

 **Secondary Objectives: Don't let a single drop of milk spill and make sure the milk isn't expired. Complete! Gained 750 EXP!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **Let the Games Begin! Completed the Tutorial Mode! Gained 200 EXP!**

 **All Myths Are Real! Discovered the Supernatural World! Gained 200 EXP!**

 **Supernatural Hunter! Defeated an Exorcist and a Fallen Angel! Gained a boosted 17000 EXP!**

 **The Devil wears School Uniforms! Sided with the Devil Faction! Gained 400 EXP!**

 **Smiter of Evil! Sided with the Holy Faction! Failed.**

 **Rewards: Gained 7500 EXP, Gained Increased reputation with the Hyoudous, Gained Increased reputation with the Devil Faction, Gained Increased reputation with the Occult Research Club, Gained Increased reputation with the Student Council, Gained Ally, Tsubasa Yura.**

 **Bonus Rewards: Crafting Item: Dark Angel Feathers x 4.**

"Crafting items... I really need to find somewhere to craft." As he closed the notifications, several more notifications popped up to his vision.

 **Hard Difficulty has been selected, new features have been installed. Would you like to learn about the new features?**

 **(Y/N)**

He couldn't push the yes button fast enough.

 **In hard difficulty, missions, quests and stat checks are now more challenging to complete, all bosses are smarter and wiser and the strength level of all monsters, creatures and possible opponents have been multiplied by a factor of three.**

Issei gulped.

 **In exchange however, all enemies now drop better loot and items, all crafting attempts yield items of greater quality and experience gain is also doubled. Similarly, in hard difficulty, the response list has been altered. Time will no longer slow down for you to select a response, this'll allow greater immersion into the gameplay, and allow you to freely respond to situations as you wish, and the game system will analyze your response and place it under the right category. Failure to respond however, will allow conversation to flow as though you had remained silent.**

Issei nodded as he continued to read.

 **Statistics correlations have been enabled; Intelligence Stat now affects MP and all available pools of energy, Dexterity stat doubly affects your accuracy, speed and flexibility while Vitality Stat now affects HP. Similarly, several statuses have been moved into the category of 'Titles', still providing the same boosts, but only a maximum of two titles can be shown active at a time, and the active titles will shape your conversations and representation.**

"Huh… those statuses _did_ look like titles to me." He thought as he kept reading.

 **In order to avoid excessive difficulty in selection and use of skills, all skills have been broadly classified into three categories: Combat Skills, which as the name implies, deals with skills that have to do with fighting. Social Skills, which are skills that are concerned with actions that have effects in social conversations and Exploration Skills, which are skills that have to do with interacting with the world, be it painting, crafting or even stealing. However, skills can still be used regardless of scenario, an Exploration skill can be used in a Combat Scenario and vice-versa.**

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Congratulations! You have gained a level!**

 **Congratulations! You have gained a level!**

 **Congratulations! You have gained a level!**

 **Congratulations! You have gained a level!**

 **Congratulations! You have gained a level!**

The gamer could do nothing but widen his eyes at the experience gains. He had gained five levels from the quest and from defeating Freed and Dohnaseek!

" _Never have I imagined such a cheat existed to gain strength. I suppose the annoying sounds on the floating screens should be the trade-off._ "

Issei startled when he heard a voice come from within his mind.

" _I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I would be lying._ "

Issei furrowed his brow "Who or what are you?"

" _My name is Ddraig. I am known as the Red Dragon Emperor, The Welsh Dragon. And you are my new host, either until your power is extracted from me, or until you die and the circle continues."_

Issei did find it rather strange. The name of the 'game' he'd been playing for so long was 'Dragon of Dragons'. He had never really sat down to ponder as to why or how the game had such a weird name, but it just figured that the reason might be because he had a dragon in his mind.

"How did you get in my head? And what is an 'Exodus Switch?'"

" _I am not exactly in your head. Several years ago, after a battle, my physical form was destroyed and I was sealed inside the Sacred Gear you possess, the Boosted Gear, as now my power has become nothing but a mere tool to be used by the mortal who hosts me."_

Issei fondly recalled hearing something about boosts during his fight with Dohnaseek. "Wait, you mean to say that the reason why I got so powerful last night and trashed that Fallen Angel was because of you?"

" _Yes. What did you think it was?_ "

"Adrenaline-fueled rage?" Issei provided weakly.

Ddraig almost snorted " _No sort of adrenaline rage would give you that much power in such a short amount of time. Either way, the Exodus Switch is said to be the most powerful Sacred Gear in existence. It is thought of as a myth, a legend amongst legend, a Sacred Gear which can manipulate space, time and matter. The only thing that people do know about the Exodus Switch is that it's shape and form is different for every individual. How a measly teenage human like you attained that power is something I'll never know."_

"What's with the hostility? I don't recall doing anything to you."

" _Precisely. You haven't done anything to me to earn my respect. All you have done, was in your rage, channel demonic and holy energy through me, the clash of energy almost completely consuming me, in your attempt to beat a weak fallen angel._ "

Issei cringed slightly "That was bad?"

" _Yes. It was. Channeling two opposite forms of energy through a single body is tantamount to death. It's like trying to set fire to water, or trying to blend the earth and the sky. By all rights, your body should have imploded on itself the second you tried such a stupid stunt, and your mind should be fragmented into a thousand pieces._ "

Issei shrugged slightly "I'm currently immune to damaging psychological effects. That and I have a body that is that of a video game character. I can't be overwhelmed by insanity even if I wanted to."

" _That's… a rather fortunate ability. I suppose the only advantage lay in the fact that I was healed the second you fell asleep. Such a miracle does not normally occur… but do not think for one minute that I have forgiven you ningen._ "

Issei's apologized silently before a thought came to his mind "Wait, then who was the last wielder of this Exodus Switch and what could it do for him?"

" _If you intend to learn anything from him, immediately abandon that train of thought. Rumor has it that the last wielder was a man who walked on water, raised the dead, could turn water to wine and exorcised demons with nothing but an utterance from his mouth, but he is no longer with the earth."_

Issei scratched his head slightly as he tried to piece the clues together, there was a name at the tip of his tongue, but he felt he just couldn't recall it due to the possibility of offending highly religious individuals "Doesn't really ring a bell…"

Ddraig mentally scoffed " _You're not a religious person at all are you?_ "

Before Issei could retort, the door to his room slowly opened as the familiar face of his mother entered into his vision.

"Issei-kun, who are you talking to? You're going to be late for-" The older Hyoudou froze as she entered the room and stared at her son.

Issei swiftly made use of Poker Face mostly because he had no idea as to why his mother had suddenly stopped talking as she stared at him. Was there a side-effect of his ability? Was something wrong? What happened?

"Issei… what happened to…"

Issei's mind traveled as he began thinking up possible excuses, he had no idea as to what she was talking about, but it would be very bad if he somehow ended up wrapping his mother into the chaos that was the supernatural world.

"…your hair? You dyed your hair?"

Issei let out a sigh of relief, apparently the only reason she was worried was because he had dyed his hair.

Wait. When had he dyed his hair?

Leaping out of bed, he quickly grabbed a mirror that lay on his desk and looked at his reflection.

His face had seemingly become sharper, losing some baby-fat, and he could still see his title on his head as the gamer. However, below that title, was the obvious fact that his hair wasn't the normal dark brown shade he was used to. It was pitch black, the shade of midnight as it possessed some luster to it, and there was a single front strand of hair that was white. Similarly, his eyes were the same color, but his left eye had gotten slightly darker in shade, while his right eye had lightened up. It wasn't noticeable though, unless someone stared directly into his eyes up-close, they wouldn't notice the difference in shade.

The most stunning and visible feature though, was his now pitch-black hair.

"Er… well there was this girl I liked who works at a hair salon and so I wanted to impress her and I eventually ended up dying my hair…" he stated weakly as he stared at his mother as she reprimanded him with a foul gaze. There was absolutely no way he would tell her the truth, which his hair had possibly dyed black because he had used demonic energy to beat up a fallen angel that was attacking his devil friend. Yet, at the same time he absolutely despised lying to his mother.

She scowled at him before sighing as she placed her hand on his hair.

"Issei-kun… if a girl can't see you for the wonderful gem that you are, she doesn't deserve you."

Issei smiled. An uneasy, cringing smile that sent a wave of guilt down his system before it was harshly eliminated by his Gamer's Mind.

"I know sometimes you do a lot of crazy stuff. And I know that if it weren't for some old lecher in a park who put all those ideas in your head, you'd be a flawless gem."

Issei's smile became somewhat strained, as he was sure that his mother knew that he was considered a huge pervert. Some of his mother's friends often avoided him, and spoke ill of her because of him. It was almost as though he was a plague on the earth. A result of his own actions, a result of his overly affectionate passion he had for the feminine form. No mother would probably be proud of someone like him.

"But... if there was anything your father liked about me, it was that I never liked flawless things."

Issei's Poker Face cracked and vanished away, as he found himself unable to hide his surprise as his mother stared into his eyes.

"Even with all your cracks and blemishes, with all your flaws and errors, you're still worth more to me than any flawless gem could ever be. You don't need to change yourself for me, or for anyone else."

Issei knew that he might not have been extremely close with his parents, nor might they see eye to eye, but if there was anything he knew about them…

"You're Hyoudou Issei, and you're perfect just the way you are."

... it was that they always had his back. Issei smiled. This time around, the smile contained unearthly warmth. "Thanks Kaa-san."

His mother smiled in turn and headed towards the door. "Now breakfast is ready downstairs, don't be long, you don't want to be late for school."

As the door closed with a gentle click Issei sighed and laid back on his bed. He knew now, what he would use his power to do. His original goal in life was to become a harem king, and he had intended to use his power to do so.

Now, he had a more pressing purpose than being a harem king. As the images of Tsubasa, Koneko and his mother passed through his mind, he knew what he had to do.

He would use his power to protect all he cherished. He would not let any harm come to them. No matter what.

For his name was Hyoudou Issei.

And he was The Gamer.

Issei swiftly went through his inventory and equipped his school uniform. He knew however, that he certainly wasn't going to school.

" _So ningen… what do you intend to do now?_ " the voice of Ddraig echoed in his mind.

Issei grinned "The one thing every gamer who has ever power-leveled knows best."

" _And that would be?_ "

As Issei combed his hair back, he smirked and clenched his fists before raising them up in triumph. "Grinding."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

As soon as Issei left his house, he headed down the road as though heading towards Kuoh Academy, but quickly diverged down the path, as he headed to the town.

"Let's see… I leveled up to level ten, so I should have enough points to allocate my stats into… as well as some new perk points. It's about time I checked my statistics."

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 10 [31.39%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 260/260**

 **MP: 750/750 [LM/DM: 400/400]**

"Well that's new- what the hell? Why are my Hit Points so low and my Mana Points so high?" Issei scratched his head as he stared at the stats, looking to the casual observer as though he was touching the air.

" _If you were paying attention, there was something about this that came up earlier._ " Ddraig supplied.

"Yeah…" Issei recalled the notifications he had read earlier "…so my Hit Points are now based entirely on my Vitality stats. Let's see…" he scrolled down to read the rest of his stats.

 **Strength: 15**

 **Vitality: 13**

 **Dexterity: 52**

 **Intelligence: 30(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 25 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 10 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 10 (-1)(+1)(+1.4)(+2)(+3)**

"My vitality is thirteen, which means that one single point of Vitality now gives twenty HP? That's insane!" He pondered on it before he quickly did some more calculations in his head.

"This also means that a single point of intelligence now adds twenty five MP. It only adds the base stats though, and nothing else, Good thing I'm smart." He ignored Ddraig's snort of disbelief as he continued. "Alright, I'll have to work on increasing my vitality. And… why is my dexterity so high?" He blinked before he recalled his perk.

"The Ambidextrous Perk adds an extra five points to dexterity with every level up! Awesome! Now let's see what else is new…"

 **Statuses:- Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game.]**

 **Titles:-**

 **On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions]**

 **Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char, boost to social actions when active].**

 **Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter]**

 **True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char, boost to crafting actions when active]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char]**

 **Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Charisma, grants boost to poetic actions when active]**

 **Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Patron of the Arts [+2 Int, +2 Wis, boost to all actions when active.],**

 **Reluctant Gentleman [+3 Char, +2 Wis, grants extra boost to social actions with women when active.]**

 **Active Titles: The Gamer [Grants 10% Chance of success in all actions], None.**

Issei noted the difference in the status and title bars. "So… several statuses became titles… they provide the same stat boosts when passive, but have an extra effect when active."

 **Points Available: 50**

 **Perk Points Available: 2**

 **Perks: Mr. Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert, Ambidextrous**

"I currently have fifty points to spend on my stats, and I also have two new perk points to add. Hmm… let's see, Intelligence can be trained by reading books. Strength should be able to be trained by training with weights, dexterity should be trained with exercise. So that leaves Wisdom, which can't be trained easily, Vitality, which is now a must, Charisma and Luck. Gah… I'll come back to this later…"

 **Money: 71,519 Yen**

 **Achievements: Karma Demon, Sound of Solitude, Renaissance Man, Two For The Price Of One, Perversion Potential, Perverted Sage, Uplifting The Fallen, Will Of Fire.**

"Nothing seems different here… so what's next…"

 **Skills:-**

 **Combat Skills :-**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [49.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1 [1.23%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Exploration Skills :-**

 **Art Mastery [Passive] Lv. 3 [0.89%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Dance Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [3.04%]**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Kami's Fingers [Active] Lv. 2 [9.46%]**

 **Larceny [Active] Lv. 1 [98.07%]**

 **Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 21 [34.09%]**

 **Musical Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [1.21%]**

 **Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 19 [23.10%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 12 [31.40%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 9 [75.41%]**

 **Science Mastery [Passive] Lv. 2 [15.07%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [95.90%]**

 **Social Skills :-**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Fallacy [Active] Lv. 1 [21.04%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [81.07%]**

 **Special Abilities :-**

 **Forbidden Skills:-**

 **Hallowed Eclipse [Active] Lv. 1 [0.02%]**

 **Revive [Active] Lv. 1 [0.01%]**

 **Sacred Gears:-**

 **Boosted Gear [Active] Lv. 1 [3.14%]**

"Well this is definitely new." Issei muttered as he stared at his special abilities. The Boosted Gear was listed under the Sacred Gear, and apparently he could still use his Hallowed Eclipse ability. What bothered him slightly was the fact that Revive was a forbidden skill. Other than the use once a month requirement, why was it considered forbidden? He then glanced at his Sacred Gear list once more.

"Wait, does this mean I can get more than one sacred gear?"

" _You already have more than one Sacred Gear. Now you wish to get more? Your greed will be the end of you._ "

"Simply sounds like someone is jealous."

" _What? I am simply stating that you already have the potential to become immeasurably powerful with the aid of the Boosted Gear and the Exodus Switch. Of what use is there to acquire more power?_ "

"…You still didn't deny the fact that you're jealous."

"… _shut up ningen."_

Issei chuckled to himself as he continued to scroll down.

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Allies:-**

 **Sitri Sona: [500/1000] Liked**

 **Toujou Koneko: [250/1000] Liked**

 **Yura Tsubasa: [300/1000] Honored**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [500/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [555/1000] Liked**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Liked**

 **Devil Faction: [999/1000] Neutral**

 **Fallen Angel Faction: [400/1000] Neutral**

 **Holy/Angel Faction: [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Yokai Faction: [499/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a lonely, neglected boy whose goal was originally to become a Harem King. Upon discovering his ability as the Gamer, and activating the Boosted Gear as he stumbled into the chaos of the supernatural world, he now has a new purpose, though he still pitifully wants to be a Harem King. Lost and confused as he is, Issei finds the man known as Uzumaki Naruto, who seemingly has all the answers. Who is the mysterious blond? And how is he connected to everything?**

"Huh, even my character description changed. And it's about that blond asshole. It's like his only purpose for existing is to outshine me in my own video game!"

" _Well he's a certainly more likeable character than you anyway._ " Ddraig added glibly.

"What! No way!"

" _He has charisma, strength and experience. If your life was a novel, people would only read it because he was going to be in it._ "

Issei sweatdropped "Like that would ever happen. There's no way people would gloss me over for a taller, smarter, stronger, more charismatic… blond with whisker-marks…"

There was a moment of silence in which Issei stood in the middle of the road as he realized what he was saying.

" _Let's not forget, said blond will probably kill you and take away your ability once you fail his quest._ "

"Gah! Damn it!" Issei cursed as he Sprinted off without looking in any particular destination in mind "I hate those no good, spotlight stealing blond-haired pretty boys." He muttered under his breath.

" _In which case, didn't he give you a bunch of books and tell you to read them?_ "

Issei blinked as he stopped sprinting and recalled the fact that the blond had in-fact done so.

"Alright, let's see what we have here. Inventory."

 **Inventory**

 **Books**

 **Ars Goetia x 1**

 **An Idiot's Guide to the Supernatural x 1**

 **Basic Chakra Theory for Morons x 1**

 **Intermediate Chakra Theory for Morons x 1**

 **Advanced Chakra Theory for Morons x 1**

 **Basic Fuinjutsu for Dropouts x 1**

 **Intermediate Fuinjutsu for Dropouts x 1**

 **The Nature and You – A Beginner's Guide to Senjutsu x 1**

 **The 'I' in 'Chi' – Energy Manipulation for Dummies x 1**

' _He's mocking me isn't he…_ ' Issei's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the thinly veiled insults in the form of books.

Selecting them one after the other, he grabbed the book titled Basic Chakra theory for morons.

 **You have obtained a skill book – Basic Chakra Theory for Morons.**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

Issei blinked in surprise. "A skill book?" He hit the yes button and froze as a rush of information engulfed his head.

 _PING!_

 **Through the understanding of your physical and spiritual energies, you have gained the ability to call forth a new pool of energy, you can now use Chakra. Your available Chakra pool is heavily determined by your Vitality and Intelligence.**

Issei could feel himself suddenly gain extra strength and durability. He could feel the energy bubbling within him.

 **Chakra has been unlocked!**

 **Gained +2 to vitality!**

 **Gained +2 to strength!**

 **Gained +2 to dexterity!**

"Yes! More stats! More boosts! Bring it all on!" Issei laughed as he quickly grabbed the remaining books.

 **You have obtained a skill book – Intermediate Chakra Theory for Morons.**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

"Yes!"

 **Through the understanding of your physical and spiritual energies, you have learnt new ways to use Chakra. You have obtained the skill Tree Walking [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **This grants you the ability to walk up on vertical surfaces and even upside down, granting you the sneakiness of a true shinobi.**

"Walking on walls? This just keeps getting better!"

 **You have obtained a skill book – Advanced Chakra Theory for Morons.**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

"More skills please!"

 **You do not meet the requirements to learn this skill; Requires 60 INT.**

Issei's smiling face switched over to a scowl in the blink of an eye. "Okay… so I can't learn the Advanced version until I gain more intelligence. No problem… I'll just have to get the next one."

 **You have obtained a skill book –Basic Fuinjutsu for Dropouts**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

Issei pushed the yes button with much less vigor than he previously had.

 **You do not meet the requirements to learn this skill; Requires 90 INT.**

"Tsk… so I'm not exactly as smart as I thought."

" _If you assumed even once that you were a genius with your measly double digit intelligence score, you were never smart to begin with._ "

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Issei retorted to Ddraig sharply.

" _I'm simply curious if your Intelligence stat, does in fact, display your Intelligence Quotient. If it is so, it would explain so very much._ "

Issei's eyes twitched in annoyance at the echoing boisterous laughter of the Welsh Dragon before he simply selected an option from a menu.

 **Communications with Sentient Life in Sacred Gear has been disabled.**

"Finally, some silence. Now where was I…"

 **You have obtained a skill book – The Nature and You – A Beginner's Guide to Senjutsu**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

Once more, Issei pressed the yes button with slight annoyance.

 **You do not meet the requirements to learn this skill; Requires 150 INT.**

"What was the point of giving me all these books if I don't have a high enough intelligence stats to learn the-"

Issei paused, as he could swear, that the blond was laughing his ass off wherever he was.

The reason for giving him the books where obvious, it was like screaming into his face " _You're not as smart as you think you are, so don't get a swelled head_."

"Well played blondie… well played." Issei grumbled under his breath as he selected what seemed to be the last of the skill books.

 **You have obtained a skill book – The 'I' in 'Chi' – Energy Manipulation for Dummies**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

"Here goes nothing."

 _PING!_

 **Through your understanding of the multiple forms and types of energy in this world, you have gained a skill which enables you to manipulate the inner energy within you and give it shape or form to create a technique. You have gained Energy Manipulation [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **You can now Manipulate Chakra.**

 **You can now Manipulate Mana.**

 **You can now Manipulate Demonic Energy.**

 **You can now Manipulate Holy Energy.**

"Now this is useful!" Issei beamed as he realized just how versatile the ability was.

He skimmed over the remaining books in his inventory, aptly supplying his mind with information on issues he had no idea about. The Great War between Factions, the names of the 72 Pillar Clans of the Underworld, the names of the leaders of the Fallen Angel Organization Grigori, and several other notable figures from religions he had assumed were mere myths.

 **Intelligence has gone up by 5!**

Issei closed the notification and his inventory as he realized the fact that there were names there he could recognize.

Gremory and Sitri were two prominent clans in the underworld. He also knew two people at his school that bore those names. It was clearly no coincidence.

There was also the issue of Evil Pieces. A way devils used to increase their numbers, as well as the entire façade of rating games. It was amusing, but it didn't really interest Issei. Well, the Evil Piece system did however draw his attention, he wondered if he could manipulate that system and incorporate it with his gamer ability, without having to lose his humanity for it. It was an idea that struck him as possible.

Of course the books had also filled him in on the legendary beings of the world. Ddraig was listed amongst the names as well as his counterpart Albion, as the two Heavenly Dragons, but they paled in comparison to some of the more awe-inspiring figures like The Great Red, the Dragon of Infinity, the Four Great Satans, the Archangels, the gods of other myths and religions. Before all these mighty figures, he was like a tiny gnat.

He was starting to understand why the Uzumaki had considered him too weak to be worthy of receiving any worthwhile information.

"Well staying here and lamenting all day won't make me any stronger… I need to find ways to gain experience quickly in other to fight tough opponents. And if I'm going to fight tough opponents, I need to be even tougher."

Opening his Status menu, he rapidly allocated points to his stats. He put thirty points into vitality, five points into dexterity, five points into strength, five points into intelligence and two into wisdom, two into luck and one into charisma. Thus changing his stats as he suddenly felt much lighter on his feet, noted how his body suddenly gained a small amount of muscle mass that wasn't previously there. Issei almost yelled in disbelief when he traced his hand on his stomach and could feel the faint outline of six packs of abs that he knew wasn't there before.

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 10 [31.39%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 900/900**

 **MP: 1000/1000 [Chakra: 525/525] [LM/DM: 510/510]**

 **Strength: 22**

 **Vitality: 45**

 **Dexterity: 59**

 **Intelligence: 40(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 27 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 12 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 11 (-1)(+1)(+1.5)(+2)(+3)**

Issei shook his head in disbelief "Unbelievable. Freed had been level 25 and he had one thousand hp. Dohnaseek had been level 30 and he only had 850HP. I'm only at level 10, but with a high enough Vitality, my HP is almost equal to their levels."

Before Issei could rejoice, he aptly remembered a painful fact. "But… that was on the Easy Difficulty. On hard, they will be three times stronger which means… they'll have a total HP of more than four thousand."

Storm clouds appeared over Issei's head as he realized that he still had a long way to go before he could be considered truly strong.

Issei sighed as he stared at his watch. He was more than two hours late for school, but he had no intention of heading to school in the first place. So his issue remained that he wanted to grind to get stronger, but he had no idea as to how he would do that, or what he would do next. So the question was simple, what did one do when one was lost?

"Hmm… well, let's see if this will work. World Map."

 _PING!_

A large map instantly became available to Issei as it appeared on a floating screen. Several areas were grayed out, while others were obscured. In the middle, was a blinking icon which displayed his current location.

 **World Map**

 **Welcome to the world map! This map displays locations you have been throughout your vast travels in the world of DxD, it can be used when your dumb self eventually gets lost while wandering, and you can even fast travel to certain locations! However, only locations you have visited will be available to fast travel, and this applies to other realms.**

Issei almost drooled at the concept of fast travel.

 **Available Locations:**

 **Japan – Kuoh:-**

 **Hyoudou Residence**

 **Kuoh Academy**

 **Kuoh Train Station**

 **Kuoh Bus Station**

 **Neku Supermarket**

Deciding to test it out, Issei selected the Neku Supermarket.

 **Would you like to fast travel to this destination?**

 **[Y/N]**

He selected the yes option as he waited for it.

 **You do not have any of the skills required for fast travel.**

' _Of course… like it'll be that easy…_ ' he sighed in disappointment as he set his gaze elsewhere. Curiosity did pique him, as he selected an icon labeled 'realms'.

 **Available Realms:-**

 **Underworld – Hell**

 **Heaven**

 **Dimensional Gap**

 **God Realm**

 **Note: You do not have any skill that can enable you to visit any of these realms.**

' _Thank Goodness! Like as though I'd want to visit any of those places, I'd have a lesser chance of being instantly killed if I stood upon a skyscraper during a thunderstorm and yelled "smite me o mighty smiter!"_ ' Issei shook his head at the thought, before selecting another option under his current realm, the mortal realm.

 **Available Countries:-**

 **Japan**

 **China**

 **India**

 **Greece**

 **Paris**

 **Rome**

 **Egypt**

 **Note: You do not have any ability or enough money that enables you to leave your current country.**

"I knew that this game was vast… but I never imagined it was _this_ vast." Issei closed the countries option, and set a destination for himself in town. He still had perk points to allocate, but he decided to do it at a later time.

With a button, Issei closed the map and got into a pose for himself. "I can't run out of MP while using Sprint so… let's see if I can max it out in a day!"

His feet departed from the earth in a rush of speed as he activated his ability and found himself dashing through the streets of Kuoh. Thus leaving the populace who saw him to question the sanity, of a black haired teen running through the town and laughing like a man possessed.

Sometimes, it was good to be the gamer.

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Unknown Location**

A tall, dark, spiky-eared man walked into a laboratory with the gait of a royal king. He frowned as he heard the pathetic screams and yells of test subjects and victims, but nonetheless ignored them as he continued his gait. These days, he had been making plans that would change the outcome of the world, and that would shatter the fragile truce between the factions.

One of his agents, Dohnaseek was supposed to perform an action that would have spurned the war into action, but almost as he had expected, the man had failed.

It was no matter, Dohnaseek was but a test run, he was not foolish enough to place all his hope into that man's hands. Better yet, Dohnaseek had confirmed that the runes he had acquired were working in perfect condition.

 _Null Void_ as it was called, created an expanded field of Holy Energy that weakened devils and ensured that no one not using Holy Energy could teleport in or out of the range of the rune, as long as it was active. At the same time, it ensured that any wounded Angel or Fallen Angel within the vicinity, would be instantly teleported to safety as an ultimate fail-safe against devils.

It was both efficient and versatile, it would safe them a lot of energy and stress as the Fallen Angel faction had the lowest population amongst the three factions, thus, every Fallen Angel mattered. Though the man he had attained the rune from was a shady fellow with ambiguous purposes, ultimately it was rather useful in the long run.

Now, the most pressing issue he faced was finding a way to increase the current population of Fallen Angels he had at his disposal. Devil's had their Evil Pieces, and even the Angels of Heaven were slowly developing a method to rival the Evil Pieces. Azazel might have been laid-back and relaxed about it, but he would not let the Fallen Angel race become obsolete, or worse - extinct. Thus, generating a way to turn humans into Fallen Angels was a challenge in which he had tasked a man who was called the "Genocide Archbishop", who was working with another Fallen Angel of the Grigori in order to attain a solution to said problem. Despite his reputation as an insane priest who had tried to increase the available number of Holy-Sword through less than stellar methods, what people did not know was that in his younger days, he had been a genius and he even had a Ph.D in Genetic Engineering. It was a skill that came in handy for the task he had currently been assigned to.

Valper Galilei stood at a computer system, rapidly analyzing information as he stared at a silver-haired test subject who was heavily gagged yet frothing at the mouth.

"How are things going here Valper?"

The priest blinked as he turned "Ah, Kokabiel-sama, we are making considerable leaps and bounds in progress. It took a while, but after we were able to re-generate most of Test Subject J from the dilapidated severed head. We introduced him to the substance and it seems to be progressing at a steady rate. However, we have lost Subjects A through I."

Kokabiel scowled "So the current success rate is one in every ten individuals. That isn't what I was expecting to hear."

Valper simply furrowed his brow in slight annoyance, yet he carefully chose his words "I am afraid that is the best we can do for now. Though, if not for Subject J's… particular features… I'd say that he would have died along with everyone else. It seems mortal bodies instantly breakdown and cells are rapidly destroyed with prolonged contact to Chemical X."

Kokabiel glanced at the man with a flavorless expression "So we're calling it Chemical X now? Are you that defunct in the concept of originality?"

Valper merely chortled "Perhaps, but it would be highly amusing if you called me Professor-" Valper's smile vanished as he felt the warm chill of a blade of light press against the back of his neck "Ah, never mind then. Either way, communications with the subject have been rather… limited."

"Limited how?"

"Well, when I do unbind him… the only thing he does is, er… swear."

"Swear?" Kokabiel asked in slight confusion, was Valper getting soft?

"Yes. He swears enough to make Selzen of all people sound like an actual priest."

Kokabiel found that somewhat hard to believe "Show me."

"Are you sure sir… he's rather… uncouth."

"Did I stutter?"

"If you insist." With the reluctant push of a button, the gag on the man's mouth was lifted.

"You motherfucking pieces of watery ass shit! You irritating, cock-sucking, circle-jerking pussy-assed bastards! When I fucking get out of here, I swear to Jashin-sama I will tear off your fucking ball sacs and make sure you choke on your limp, uncircumcised, puny dic- Mmmhph!"

To Valper's surprise, it had been Kokabiel himself who had pushed the button that re-gagged the silver haired man. Kokabiel stared at Valper, almost daring him to make a comment. The scientist wisely kept shut.

"If this is our only surviving experiment, we might as well scrap the entire project. Is there any way to increase the chances of success right now?"

Valper paused and hummed "There is a way. During my days working for the church, I heard of a nun that possessed a Sacred Gear which could heal all forms of wounds, be it human, devil or angel."

Kokabiel was not amused "And…?"

"Well, the name of the Sacred Gear is called Twilight Healing. If we were able to gain that Sacred Gear to our side, it would…" he did some quick calculations "…increase our success rates by at least sixty-five percent."

Kokabiel's lips twitched into a small smile. "Excellent. I will inform Selzen and Raynare at once. What is the name of this nun with the ability?"

Valper calmly tried to recall the information "I think her name was…"

"Asia Argento."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Kuoh Town**

 **Kuoh Academy**

"This is still all… rather unbelievable." Sitri Sona pinched the bridge of her nose as she sat in her office, the Student Council alone to her thoughts. Several hours earlier though, she had been surrounded by her peerage, in which they were all affectionately hugging and cheerfully greeting her Rook, Tsubasa Yura.

Or rather, should she say, her _former_ Rook.

Tsubasa Yura had died, and when she did, Sona had felt it. Her Rook piece had appeared within her hand, confirming that the girl was gone, that she was dead.

Sona had been angry and upset, the thought of a member of her peerage dying was not what she had expected when she sent Tsubasa to follow and if possible, seduce Hyoudou Issei over to her side.

But, somehow, someway, Tsubasa had returned. She had returned, alive and well, still as a devil, but without a master and without an Evil Piece in her. There was no logical explanation for it that Sona could devise, and even worse still, Tsubasa herself couldn't remember what had happened. The last thing the girl claimed she could remember was entering into a Supermarket where she met Hyoudou, and then it was all blank from there onwards.

Tsubasa said she did however faintly recall fighting against a Fallen Angel, but nothing else.

Sona had hoped that she could question the Hyoudou on the matter once he arrived at school, but he was suspiciously absent from class. If that wasn't damning, Sona didn't know what was.

It seemed that both she and her rival Rias were having issues with their respective Rooks. They both had the idea of using their Rooks to win over the Hyoudou's favor, while Tsubasa had reluctantly accepted, Koneko had flat out refused.

Sona didn't know why, but she just had a gut feeling in her that said several things were going to change.

"Kaicho, are you in here?"

Sona blinked as she heard the voice of the Vice Principal of the school. It wasn't often the man left his office, and for him to come to her domain meant it was on official duty.

"Hai. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No troubles, I just wanted to introduce you to someone and show him around the school."

Sona's eyes flashed slight annoyance, but her otherwise serene face did not change. "Is it a new student? Such a task is not exactly fit for the Student Council President."

"No no, it's not a student, it's a new member of our staff."

Sona's eyebrow rose in slight confusion. She was certain, all teaching positions at the school were fully occupied, and there was certainly no available staff position that she could think of.

Her eyes flashed over to the dashing young man who had entered her office, she estimated his age to be twenty-one at most, and nineteen at least. Dressed loosely in an elegant white dress shirt that had its sleeves rolled up and unbuttoned, a vintage tie painting a vivid image of an orange sunset, a dark brown belt with the kanji for vortex used as it's buckle and skinny dark black pants coupled with brown suede shoes.

His blond hair was left in a wild yet smoothly falling way as the long strands generated bangs that obscured the top of his forehead, he sported a pair of slim, square-framed glasses that added a foreign appeal to his manner, and there were thin, barely visible markings on his face. His eyes were closed behind his glasses, and he sported a cheerful, yet somehow well-mannered attitude.

Every instinct in her told her to run, to run and flee from this man as fast as she possibly could.

"Yo! My name is Uzumaki Naruto…"

He smiled and generated warmth that Sona tried to ignore, yet the warmth had a chill to it that screamed danger. Regardless, even if she did ignore that fact, she couldn't ignore the fact that the presence of this man would be something that would instantly shift the tides of the school.

"…And starting today, I am Kuoh Academy's new Guidance Counselor."

And she had a feeling that it wouldn't exactly be for the better.

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Issei's Current Stats:**

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 10 [31.39%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 900/900**

 **MP: 1000/1000 [Chakra: 525/525] [LM/DM: 510/510]**

 **Strength: 22**

 **Vitality: 45**

 **Dexterity: 59**

 **Intelligence: 40(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 27 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 12 (+1)(+3)**

 **Charisma: 11 (-1)(+1)(+1.5)(+2)(+3)**

 **Statuses:- Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game.]**

 **Titles:-**

 **On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions]**

 **Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char, boost to social actions when active].**

 **Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter]**

 **True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char, boost to crafting actions when active]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char]**

 **Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Charisma, grants boost to poetic actions when active]**

 **Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Patron of the Arts [+2 Int, +2 Wis, boost to all actions when active.],**

 **Reluctant Gentleman [+3 Char, +2 Wis, grants extra boost to social actions with women when active.]**

 **Active Titles: The Gamer [Grants 10% Chance of success in all actions], None.**

 **Points Available: None**

 **Perk Points Available: 2**

 **Perks: Mr. Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert, Ambidextrous**

 **Money: 71,519 Yen**

 **Achievements: Karma Demon, Sound of Solitude, Renaissance Man, Two For The Price Of One, Perversion Potential, Perverted Sage, Uplifting The Fallen, Will Of Fire.**

 **Skills:-**

 **Combat Skills: -**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [49.71%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [1.62%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 1 [1.23%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 1 [4.18%]**

 **Energy Manipulation [Active] Lv.1 [0.03%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Exploration Skills :-**

 **Art Mastery [Passive] Lv. 3 [0.89%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Dance Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [3.04%]**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Kami's Fingers [Active] Lv. 2 [9.46%]**

 **Larceny [Active] Lv. 1 [98.07%]**

 **Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 21 [34.09%]**

 **Musical Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [1.21%]**

 **Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 19 [23.10%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 12 [31.40%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 9 [75.41%]**

 **Science Mastery [Passive] Lv. 2 [15.07%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 1 [95.90%]**

 **Tree Walking [Active] Lv. 1 [0.00%]**

 **Social Skills: -**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Fallacy [Active] Lv. 1 [21.04%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [81.07%]**

 **Special Abilities :-**

 **Forbidden Skills:-**

 **Hallowed Eclipse [Active] Lv. 1 [0.02%]**

 **Revive [Active] Lv. 1 [0.01%]**

 **Sacred Gears:-**

 **Boosted Gear [Active] Lv. 1 [3.14%]**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Allies:-**

 **Sitri Sona: [500/1000] Liked**

 **Toujou Koneko: [250/1000] Liked**

 **Yura Tsubasa: [300/1000] Honored**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [500/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [555/1000] Liked**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Liked**

 **Devil Faction: [999/1000] Neutral**

 **Fallen Angel Faction: [400/1000] Neutral**

 **Holy/Angel Faction: [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Yokai Faction: [499/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a lonely, neglected boy whose goal was originally to become a Harem King. Upon discovering his ability as the Gamer, and activating the Boosted Gear as he stumbled into the chaos of the supernatural world, he now has a new purpose, though he still pitifully wants to be a Harem King. Lost and confused as he is, Issei finds the man known as Uzumaki Naruto, who seemingly has all the answers. Who is the mysterious blond? And how is he connected to everything?**

* * *

 _ **A/N: And there it was.**_ **If you have any questions regarding the gaming system or the story, be sure to P.M. me, and then don't forget to drop a review. Either way, the story is finally advancing forward.**

 **Oh, and a Random Trivia for you: The original version of this story was not a Gamer fic. It was only on a random whim, I decided to incorporate the Gamer System into the plot and viola, I had crafted a masterpiece. If, in my own humble opinion I can call it a masterpiece. Though however, it seems that Issei's ability is broken, here's the hint to prove that he's not as strong as he thinks he is:**

 **The Maximum Level for any Character is NOT Level 100. Ever played Disgaea anyone?**

 **Next chapter will glance back on the DxD cast, namely Koneko's fallout with Rias, Sona's confusion on what to do with Tsubasa, the aftermath of Tsubasa and Issei's affair and of course Murayama, who has not been forgotten.**

 **Also, here's the thing: Issei didn't forget Tsubasa after everything, keep in mind that with his Gamer's Mind he can't feel worry or anxiety. **

**And also, why is Ddraig so chummy to Issei in most fan fics and in canon? I mean, if I was a bloody powerful legendary dragon who had my soul was trapped in a weapon or Sacred Gear, to be used by who so ever is lucky enough to get the ability next, I would be bloody pissed at the shit I'd have to go through with several hosts. Honestly, I wouldn't be so willing to help my hosts. I get that Issei made a deal with him in canon, but honestly, Ddraig shouldn't have been that easy to get along with, especially since Issei did nothing to earn his respect. Or maybe that's my own opinion anyway.**

 **Well, don't forget to review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	7. Of Gods and Damsels

**A/N: So i finally got around to updating. That's cool. This chapter was so long I had to cut it in half, so expect the next one sometime soon. Also, just in case it isn't already obvious by now, this Fic can be considered a mass-xover fic. Well... not entirely as I'm only borrowing about one or two characters from different worlds (WHICH I DO NOT OWN)... but still, don't be surprised if you see a hollow or something. (I'm kidding, I won't add any hollows... or will I?).**

 **Also: Due to the nature of DxD containing gods and beings, I would like to caution you guys on the content, if you are highly religious I do not mean to offend or mock your religion in the content of this story.**

 **And... someone pointed out that Issei not being a devil/Rias's love interest will completely remove the plot of DxD. Somewhat true as several story arcs depend on those elements, however, this gives me a lot of free ground to work with. I always felt that the villains in DxD were lacking, (Riser, Kokabiel, Rizevim Livan Lucifer etc.) so, expect some interesting twists and turns here and there.**

 **Also, I apologize to those game-hardy fans, as finding the perfect balance between the Gaming elements and character development is quite difficult, so some chapters will focus mainly on Issei and his gaming adventure, others will focus on characters behind the scenes and the climax heavy chapters will blend the two together.**

 **Now, YOUR REVIEWS MEAN THE WORLD TO ME! I literally sit down and read every last review, and though I've had a few negative comments here and there, the overall reception is pretty good. Thanks you guys! You are my motivation to keep on writing!**

 **Now, without further ado...**

 **~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~**

 **Chapter: 6**

 **Of Gods and Damsels**

* * *

 **Hell**

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Residence**

Sirzechs was an impeccable man of calm nature. Despite his fooling around on several occasions and his general, jovial light hearted nature, Sirzechs was a leader, he was a powerful warrior, an older brother, a son and soon to be a father. There were very few things that made his skin crawl, and even less things that made him uncomfortable, and almost nothing that made him scared. Yet, as he sat down comfortably in his office, he faced a man that managed to be all those three things at once.

The man's outfit comprised a a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and an intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a full-length, red frock overcoat (similar to the duster coats often associated with cowboys) with cape. His skin was as pale as moonlight, his eyes were the color of blood and his grin was as fierce as the very underworld itself. It was especially uncomfortable for Sirzechs, because the man felt soulless, as empty and dark as the void itself.

Sirzechs did not fear him because the man _could not_ be beaten, quite the contrary. Sirzechs feared him because the man _could_ be beat. The man could absorb the souls of beings he fought and make himself even more powerful, and to kill him would mean attempting to kill the thousands of souls he had consumed. If Sirzechs had to fight him, it would mean he would have to kill him thousands and thousands of times – which he doubted he could – in which he would run out of energy, and the man would be as fresh as ever, ready and capable of devouring his soul. He was a man who could truly not be underestimated. Well, that is if he could be _called_ a man.

He was known as the Ultimate Vampire, the Son of the Dragon, the Bird of Hermes, the Impaler and the No-Life King. He was Lord Alucard Van Helsing, the sole Leader of the Vampire Faction of the Underworld. He had literally ended the fighting and segregation in the Vampire Faction single-handedly, Krul Tepes of the Tepes faction had surrendered to him, and it was only a matter of time before he took down the Carmilla faction as well, before unifying the factions together under a single banner and kingdom. He had created a Vampire utopia, and though there were some who were angry at him, they followed him either out of fear or respect. He had surprisingly ended the discrimination against Dhampires, and insisted that they be treated equally as other Vampires, and though it earned him some ire, it also garnered the affection of his people.

Lord Alucard so far ranked amongst one of the most powerful beings in the Underworld, being classified amongst the S-Rank Super Devils. What most individuals failed to realize, is that the Underworld was broadly divided into several areas, and was in fact, at least twice the surface area as the earth itself. In this scenario, there were several factions that lived in the underworld. They were; The Fallen Angel Faction, the Devil Faction, Demon Faction, Vampire Faction, Yokai Faction and Fairy Faction. There was also the Realm of the Dead in which Hades resided with his Grim Reapers, there was Purgatory where souls awaiting judgement resided, Limbo, where souls who were condemned suffered for eternity, and finally Cocytus, the deepest part of the Underworld that acted as a prison for the strongest and foulest beings in existence.

Alucard, the mysterious new leader of the Yokai faction, the leader of the Demon Faction, and the leader of the Fairy Faction were collectively called the "Four Emperors of the Underworld." Even though technically, the Fairy Faction did not reside in the underworld but a separate realm very close to it.

Thus, there were several individuals – most especially devils who still believed in the old ways – that found the title demeaning and insulting to their race, and they felt that the other factions were slowly beginning to overshadow the devil faction. What they did not realize though, was that the reason the devils had no representative in this title was because the four main leaders of the devil faction were called the Four Great Satans, and they did not have a single leader. Myopic prejudices had however increased the issues out of proportions, tensions had been rising, and with the leader of the Yokai Faction gathering his people, fear was abundant in the air that it was only a matter of time before the factions all ganged up together to overthrow the Devils as the leaders of hell.

The Four Great Satans had their hands full, they risked a civil war in the underworld, a holy war between the devil-angel factions and a divine war, between all the gods and religions. It was a nightmare just waiting to happen, waiting for the slightest of nudges, before the entire universe was once more thrown into chaos. The likes of which had never been before seen.

Sirzechs knew that most of the fears were baseless, the Devil Faction and the Demon Faction were allies and had several contracts with each other. Also, the Demon Faction had been at war with the Fairy Faction for decades, so the chances of them joining forces were slim. The only wild cards in the scenario, were the Yokai faction and the Vampire faction who were allies. Thus, when Lord Alucard himself appeared to Sirzechs, at his home no less, it was a rather important and tense day.

"Lord Alucard, to what do I owe this honor?" Sirzechs sat at his table, his wife and Queen calmly located at his side, his hands clasped calmly on his lap as he maintained the most neutral expression imaginable.

"You know why I'm here Sirzechs. Or is it Lord Lucifer now?" Alucard smirked as he calmly crossed his legs, his dark rimmed glasses reflecting the light in the room.

Sirzechs had in fact known Alucard, several years back when he was still much younger, but that was a story for another time "You know I cannot make a decision on my own without first contacting the other Satans. And even then, the process required will take some time."

Alucard's smirk lost its humor "You devils amuse me so much."

Sirzechs calmly steeled his expression, unable to stop himself from letting out a quip "Marvelous, and I wasn't even trying."

The tension in the room thickened as light slowly flickered "A large number of your species complain and whine about being overshadowed, about your 'rights' as the rulers of the underworld. Yet, now that the fruit is ripe for the plucking, now that the drums of war have echoed, your people are content with sitting at the sidelines and watching events unfold, only to later pitifully moan as the other factions gain power and glory."

Sirzechs placed a finger in objection "If, and I mean if, the Devil Faction supports the Vampires in a war against the Greek Gods, it would no longer be 'just' a war. They will take it as an assault made by the entire Judeo-Christian faction and siege not only us, but the Angels and Fallen Angels. And once they do, the other religions will see it as an invitation to plunder and attack. It will result in a Divine War."

Alucard calmly leaned back into his chair "Now, since that little red-head of yours is good at hypothetical scenarios, imagine what would happen if you don't ally with us, and we win."

Sirzechs frowned, the outcome of that would be obvious. "If the Vampire and Yokai factions manage to eliminate the Greek Gods, it would pose a massive threat to all other religions, but not as a deterrent. They would all combine forces to see to it that you are eliminated, in which case the outcome would still be a Divine War." And even if that didn't happen, Sirzechs noted to himself, the devil faction would see it as a massive threat to their position and would command them to be instantly sieged and killed.

Alucard grinned and continued "Now, what would happen _if_ we lose?"

Sirzechs exhaled as he palmed his hands into place. "The defeat and/or elimination of two factions from the Underworld would create a power vacuum. The remaining factions would either scramble for that power… or, once more, the gods of other religions would interpret it as the Underworld having being weakened, and would clearly attempt a siege to take it for themselves. In which case, the Devil Faction fights back and it once more leads to…"

"A Divine War." The massive grin on Alucard's face clearly told Sirzechs were he had been going with this. "Regardless of the choice you make, the aftermath will still be a divine war. From what my spies gather, Artemis has allied with Hades and they are seeking alliances with the patron gods of several religions, and now, even the Demon Faction seems to be making moves we cannot predict. Why not side with the Vampire Faction now and make things easier on yourself by increasing your chances of victory?"

The term stuck between a rock and a hard place had never been more accurate in such a scenario. Sirzechs sighed as he realized that he needed to get back into optimum fighting shape, as well as possibly train Rias for the chaos that was coming their way. He also needed to call a meeting between the leaders of the angel-devil factions, because irrespective of whatever happened, it would be the entire Judeo-Christian faction that would take the heat.

"There is another way." Sirzechs glanced over to Grayfia, his wife and Queen who had been suspiciously silent throughout the entire meeting.

Sirzechs' eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about "You mean the Summit of Transcendence?"

Alucard chortled, before he burst out in full blown laughter "Do you really think, that this issue can be solved by calling in a Peace Summit?" he immediately became serious once more.

"I was alive during the last summit several thousand years ago. I was but a mere low-level vampire then, and I thought it would be fun to watch the Summit of Transcendence. So, I snuck in with an idiotic blond moron." He paused as he grinned as though recalling fond memories.

"A summit held on neutral ground, usually the Dimensional Gap and chaperoned by the most powerful creatures in existence; The Great Red, The Dragon of Infinity and the Fourth Horseman, The Pale Rider, the Master of Hades, _Death_. Those three rarely concern themselves with the affairs of gods or mortals, and usually, the summit is held either to offer peace treaties or to make alliances and end wars." Alucard wolfishly grinned.

"Or at least, that was supposed to be the intention. The gods got too rowdy and too angry at each other to try and come to a reasonable conclusion. And as a result, either Ophis or the Great Red would disintegrate them, taking them thousands of years to respawn, or Death would simply cease their immortality and kill them for real. If you truly intend on invoking the summit as your solution, you risk earning the ire of the Dragon of Apocalypse, the Dragon of Infinity and the Natural Phenomenon."

The room was pin-drop silent "In such a case, you need not worry about the Divine War ending the world. Those three are capable of doing it _without even trying_."

Sirzechs let out a sigh and realized that he had been doing that far too often "Irrespective of the decision made, the outcome would still be the same. As such, I would rather go for the scenario that possesses even the slightest chance of success or difference."

Alucard dispassionately shook his head as he rose "Those are the words of a desperate man. It seems I misjudged you Lucifer."

Sirzechs smiled sadly "Is it such a bad thing to want peace?"

"Peace? It's an illusion. It is only the moment of reprieve that one possesses before the next war. Someone I know has experienced that harsh reality too well."

Sirzechs frowned "Do you not tire of war? You already lost someone close to you, what would you do if you lose someone you care about once more?"

Alucard scowled "What happened to Serah was an exception. She died facing against an elite warrior of a Goddess. Everyone else I care about in this hollow planet is fully capable of handling themselves."

The Lucifer decided to play his hand "Even _your daughter_?"

Silence flooded the room like a burst dam, enveloping its occupants and swallowing them within its tranquil fluid form. It was a rumor which existed that had no real basis, but there were certain individuals who did know that a 'Vampire Princess' existed, the daughter of Alucard. Some said that they weren't related by blood, or that she was half-demon while others said they were, and that she was half-devil. Surrounded by secrecy and speculation, the answer to the question of whether or not there was a 'Vampire Princess' remained known only the select individuals of the Vampire faction, and of course, the Maou Lucifer.

"It seems I underestimated the efficiency of your spies." Alucard grinned "But rather than focus on my daughter, shouldn't you be more concerned with your younger sister?"

Sirzechs lost all form of mirth in his face as his expression became stony cold. "What are you implying?"

Like a wavy mist that did not possess form, the image of Alucard began to distort. "That is something that you'll find in due time."

Once the presence of the man vanished, Sirzechs instantly spun on his wife. "I need you to do something for me… and I have a feeling you're not going to like it."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Unknown Location**

Valper Galilei whistled a jaunty tune to himself as he witnessed his test subject scream in mind-numbing agony. The priest was also a scientist, a feat which very few had ever managed to accomplish, or rather, he claimed to have possessed a Ph.D. in Genetic Engineering. While the claim was rather boisterous, the truth was in fact no were near as glamorous. The church had originally forbidden him from wasting time studying science in the university, but he had still gone ahead to accomplish the feat, using the excuse of trying to 'modernize' the ways of the church and saying that science and religion didn't have to be enemies. He'd succeeded, attained a basic degree, and further gained a Masters as well. However, the Church had felt that he had not yet provided any proof of his benefit to the cause, despite his claims. He wanted to go ahead and gain the epitome of education, a Ph.D. if not for the knowledge, then at the very least to satisfy his own pride and ego. Alas, thus he had begun the holy sword projects.

Needless to say, the outcome was a disaster. Once he was exiled though, he had embezzled enough of the church's funds to actually acquire a Ph.D. However, it _wasn'_ t in Genetic Engineering. A simple forgery and lie here and there, and Kokabiel had chosen him for this job, granting him importance and status he could not have previously attained. Even if the lie was exposed, he had become too deeply rooted into the operation to be terminated or replaced, and as such, he'd stand as the mad genius behind the rebirth of the fallen angels, and the extinction of the devils. Valper might have been several touches insane, but he was in no way or form stupid. The mad priest stared at his test subject, the silver-haired man who was frothing at the mouth with intensity, and shooting him a glower that meant death.

"Come now, you should understand that it's all for a good purpose."

The term 'good' would be highly ambiguous as used in his sentence. True, he was trying to find a way to increase the vast population of Fallen Angels, a way to instantly convert humans to Fallen Angels that would rival the Evil Piece system used by the Devil Faction. Admittedly, Fallen Angels had a biology and physiology highly similar to that of humans, so they could, in fact, simply reproduce normally and increase their population. However, this system was extremely slow, factoring in the timing, as before they could produce a single Fallen Angel warrior, it would take several years for the child to mature from his or her young age to reach adulthood, before the process was continued.

Devils however could simply use an evil piece, and turn at least fifteen humans per one high-class devil, and in turn, those humans could still mate and produce more devils. Their system was highly efficient and much quicker, with the extra bonus of the Evil Piece adding more power to the new reincarnated converts. Thus, the simple 'sleep with women' approach the Fallen Angels used to increase their numbers was somewhat obsolete. However, the silver-haired test subject neither knew, nor did he care about any of that. He simply gave Valper a ferocious gaze that would have sent Lucifer himself running to the heavens.

"Well, at least I do suppose this should be an upgrade from being a severed head stuck in the ground for centuries passed." Valper added glibly, noting that the man's expression had calmed down somewhat.

"Who put you in there anyway? Clearly they knew you were immortal. Your head was severed and you still spoke, even though you had no connection to your lungs. They should have clearly realized that you wouldn't die from something as meager as lack of oxygen." Valper noted as he continued to examine the new data on his computer.

The silver-haired man grumbled out something unintelligible that Valper could not make out.

He paused and mused "Or perhaps they assumed that you'd starve to death? That would be also pointless. Your head is severed from the rest of your body; the starvation process would barely affect you if you have no stomach to begin with."

This time around, the man stayed quiet, and that intrigued the slightly insane priest/scientist.

Valper grinned "Or perhaps, whoever tried to kill you was clearly aware that you'd be trapped, as nothing but a detached head, unable to die and stuck in the earth, _for eternity_."

The look in the man's eyes clearly told Valper that he had guessed right, as well as the fact that his test subject was incredibly unstable, after having being buried alive, in total solitude for several thousand years.

"I truly wonder what you did to have deserved such a rather cruel and unusual punishment." Valper stated to himself as he stared at his subject, partially curious and partially appalled.

Valper was distracted from his musing when he heard the crunching of footsteps from behind him, turning around to find another notable priest present, the exorcist clearly not possessing any of the life and vigor that Valper had known him for.

"Oi, shitty priest, I heard from the boss man that you've got a fucking job or something for me."

Valper simply chuckled "Me? The 'shitty priest?' if I recall, you're the one who had diarrhea due to getting beaten by a teenage brat."

Freed growled in anger "Screw fucking you. The brat caught me by surprise. No one fucking just throws shit into your eye like that, or tosses poison into your mouth and I could have sworn he was empty-handed when I saw him."

"Keep your excuses to yourself Selzen, it sounds all the more pitiful when it's said out loud." Valper mocked.

"You asshole-" Valper sharply interrupted him before Freed could get far in his cursing.

"The only reason Kokabiel-sama believes your excuses and hasn't killed you yet is because somehow, Dohnaseek was defeated and critically wounded in combat, and he isn't exactly easy to beat." The man pondered silently as he stared at the exorcist.

"Well, Raynare's group has been sent to capture a nun, and if possible, find and capture the boy who had beaten you and Dohnaseek."

Freed tsked "Those idiots can't capture shit, that fucking brat took me by surprise, the chances of them capturing him is impossible, he'll be kicking and screaming all the way if he doesn't find some way to escape."

"Possibly true; however, I never stated that they had to capture him alive."

Freed simply rose an eyebrow in contemplation "And why the fuck am I not in on this? I owe that brat a fucking beat-down damn it!"

"That's because I need you to requisition certain items from our liaison at Kuoh General, this is something that's so easy, even you wouldn't be able to mess it up." Valper handed the rogue exorcist a list which the man collected silently.

"Oh and take this, it's the new prototype of the X-Serum with Test Subject J's blood." Valper also handed him a bag of needles and syringes with sickly purple fluid within it.

"What the fuck is the X-Serum?"

"Kokabiel-sama felt that 'Chemical X' was already trademarked and forced me to re-name it, that man truly has no sense of aesthetics." Valper shrugged "Well use it on whoever you feel you want to kill. It has a one in ten chance of survival though, and if, by some chance an individual you do inject with it survives, I'll be able to track them down which is a win-win scenario."

Selzen grumbled as he reluctantly collected the bag from the priest. He cursed under his breath as he gazed at the room. "Gah… telling me who to kill, fucking stupid experiments…Why the fuck do I do this shit anyway?"

Valper merely glanced at him with annoyance "What is it now?"

The rogue exorcise cursed as he took in a deep breath "We're the fucking good guys right Valper?"

Galilei paused as he stared at Freed. The man had never addressed him personally by name before, he mostly used derogatory insults. "What brought this on?"

Freed shook his head "I mean, devils are fucking scum, they're like the fucking goddamn opposites of the prissy white-winged angels. So that means they're supposed to be bad."

"Yes, technically devils are evil by nature." Valper added.

"Well, we're fighting devils, we want to completely erase those motherfuckers out of this goddamn world, kill them all and make sure not even a single fucking last one of their species survives." Freed growled. "We even take out those traitorous bastard humans who sign deals with them. But, we're treated as the fucking bad guys, exiled from the church, called insane, called all sorts of names because we want to kill devils, because we want to slay evil!"

Valper smirked "Perhaps they wouldn't be against you if you swore less and possessed even a hint of decorum."

Freed flipped Valper the bird "Well fuck that. I joined up with the church to kill devils, to watch as their thick blood paints the soil red, to hear the sweet cracking of their bones and tearing of their flesh. I didn't sign up to read morning mass or run errand boy for a fallen angel with a stake up his ass or lead a convent in fucking prayer and shit. Especially since we both know who's really running the show up there."

Valper frowned "Be sure to keep that little tidbit of information silent. The disaster that would be caused once people realize that Michael is the one running heaven would be catastrophic."

Freed waved him off "Like I care about that. What the hell has Michael ever done for me anyway? What the fuck have any of you assholes done for me anyway? I should be out there killing some fucking devils damn it!"

Valper had a quizzical expression on his face as he observed the exorcist. "Why do you want to kill devils so badly? You were considered a natural genius, one of the youngest and greatest exorcists ever created. Honestly, if you were a bit more… stable, you'd be one of the best exorcists in the entire world."

Freed snarled "Well boo-fucking-hoo, I'm sorry we can't all have a fucking cheerful life that allows us to keep our 'sanity' in check."

Valper's curiosity was piqued, though not entirely "What was your childhood like anyway? What sort of upbringing could make anyone as insane as you?"

The room became pin-drop quiet, as though a god had landed and seized all form of sound as his property. Only the beeping of heart-monitors and the bubbling of chemicals echoed across the room as though they had emerged into a physical entity. It was in this state of calm, that Freed Selzen, the exorcist known for his vulgar mouth, said _nothing_. The silence, however, existed as a more damning form of evidence, than any single thing the Exorcist could possibly have said.

Freed slowly walked towards the door with his new exorcist gun and blade, due to how his previous one was stolen by the brat who had poisoned him.

"I'm off. The sooner I get done with the items on this list, the sooner I get to meet that fucking brat that beat me." He let out a small smirk.

"And this time around… He's _dead_."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **You have arrived at your set destination.**

 **Location Discovered – Kuoh Shopping District! Gained 25 EXP!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 1!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 1!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 1!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 1!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 1!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 1!**

 **Observe has gone up by 1!**

 **Observe has gone up by 1!**

 **Observe has gone up by 1!**

Issei skid to a harsh stop as he found himself in the shopping district of Kuoh, gathering weird looks as he patted off the dust from his trousers. He didn't look the least bit exhausted and sharply noted with some slight disappointment that his shoes had worn out from sprinting so long.

"Gah… so I sprinted for at least an hour straight and managed to gain six extra levels in the sprint skill, and using Observe while sprinting made it gain three extra levels. Good thing I have the Mr. Renaissance perk that increases the EXP gains of non-combat skills." He mused to himself. He had been using the Observe skill to calculate distances as he ran as well as to notice and Dodge obstacles. He wondered if he would allocate his perk points yet, but decided to hold on to them, especially if he would receive an entirely new set of perks that would vary greatly from the originals. There were certain perks he was regretting nor choosing, but ultimately, he knew that it was for the best. The Gutsy Pervert perk was still epic, no regrets there.

A part of him shuddered at the chaos that would unfold if he ever got stuck on a 'Pervert Mode', it would be both the most beautiful and the most horrific experience of his life. He did not however, ever want to use a Perverted Response while near either Tsubasa or Koneko. With the former, things might go a little bit too far, and with the latter, the outcome would be horrendous, irrespective of whether or not the perverted response is successful. If it fails, it would end up with him getting pulverized, if it succeeds, it would end up with him feeling as though he had taken the most beautiful of flowers in the world, layered it with honey and eaten it.

Issei frowned as he realized that he needed to meet with Tsubasa. He wasn't really sure about what they were now. Hell, they'd kissed, but did that make them something more? What were they to begin with? Other than their mutual interest in the Icha Icha series, he knew next to nothing about her. Then there was the fact that she was a devil as well as the fact that she had originally been trying to seduce him. He wanted to find out more about her, not just her, but her and Koneko. He enjoyed their company, their presence. They made him feel emotions that he didn't understand.

Issei let out a sigh, he still had perk points left to allocate, but didn't feel like using them up yet. Perks were extremely useful, so he supposed that he'd just scroll through the available options for the mean time.

 **Available Perks:**

 **Lord of the Gambit**

 **King of Jokers**

 **Embracer of Shadows**

 **Monarch of Eden**

 **Winchester's Descendant**

 **Seeker of Truth**

 **Herald of the Dragonborn**

"These sound so juicy..." As tempted as he was to allocate his new perk points, he decided to wait for a while. If he was correct, the available perk list changed after he had selected his perks and moved up five levels. But, he wanted to know if it would remain the same if he didn't select any perks and gained more perk points. Closing his list, he stretched and focused his mind back to the blue-haired girl he had become somewhat obsessed with.

He supposed that once he was done grinding and performing quests for the day, he'd try to track down where Tsubasa lived. Or was that too creepy? Would it be wrong to show up on her doorstep unannounced? Would he come off as too desperate? Would she say that their kiss had been a spurn of the moment thing? Issei slightly dreaded his meeting with Tsubasa, but he knew that he couldn't put it off forever. With a calm lull, he felt his Gamer's Mind suppress his slight anxiety and refocus his mind.

 **Observe has reached level 15! You can now view more information about targets!**

Issei's mind returned to the present as he noted the notification "More information? Let's try this on my shoes… Observe."

 **Average School Shoes**

 **Defense: - 0.5**

 **State – Bad [4/10]**

 **Ordinary School Shoes belonging to Hyoudou Issei, these lucky shoes have been with him for a while, helping his sorry self to flee from the wrath of half-naked women he peeked on. Sadly, much unlike the wearer, they seem to have reached the end of their rope. No attachments exist on this item, no modifications have been done on this item.**

Issei's left eye twitched in annoyance at the description "The mockery continues _…_ "

The Gamer sighed as he realized that he might need a change of wardrobe. "I still haven't found a place to craft yet… and now I need new shoes."

Issei walked down the pathway in search of a shop selling shoes, but he slowly found himself wandering as though he was being pulled by an invisible force. For some weird reason, he kept walking, ignoring almost all other shops. He wasn't really sure as to why he did it, but stopped in front of a particular shop. Though, the term 'shop' would be a rather vague description for it.

It looked as large as an entire school block in Kuoh Academy, painted a vivid royal gold, several stories high and possessing tinted windows. What struck Issei as odd was the fact that everyone seemed to ignore the store, like it wasn't there. People went around it and didn't even bother to glance up to stare at the magnificent building as though there was nothing but an empty alleyway in its place.

"It's like only I can see the place." Calmly, the gamer stared at the building to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, and used Observe.

 **You have found a mega-store!**

 **The Midas Complex**

 **An illustrious shopping complex rumored to have existed for centuries. A refined, delicate store made for only the most exquisite of customers, possessing items beyond mere plebian comprehension. As such, someone of your caliber even thinking of entering this store is a sin against man and god.**

"…" Issei's grumbled to himself as he decided to prove the game system wrong; he pushed the revolving door and headed straight into the shop.

The now black-haired boy was forced to close his eyes as a blast of chilled air hit him from the air-conditioning that felt like actual chilled air from a snowy country. He managed to let his eyes open to witness the splendor of the store. The complex was huge, colored with a brilliant royal gold; it possessed smooth animal skin rugs decorating the spotlessly tiled floors, animal heads of all forms and types decorating the gold painted walls. There was a chandelier with bright golden lights was located in the middle of the complex just above the receptionist table which was made of smooth looking wood that Issei assumed was mahogany and had smartly dressed cashiers manning the stations. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata played calmly in the background, and the entire building had the wonderful scent of lavender. Issei blinked as he walked around the shopping complex which was more of a giant mall, his Observe ability telling him that the building was several times larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.

He was however unable to shake off the feeling of being watched. He spotted a girl with blonde hair wearing a smart business suit with an elderly man with long, grey hair, a matching beard, and an eye-patch over his left eye enter into an elevator. Issei's dark eyes caught the girl's blue eyes, and though she carried herself with slight esteem and regard, Issei could have sworn that she was more of a bodyguard than a companion to the man, even though the man seemed to be capable of taking care of himself. Issei threw that believe out of the window once he caught the man sport a perverted grin and spank the girl on the butt while grinning at him with a thumbs up, and mouthing "She doesn't have a boyfriend". The elevator's doors closed before he could observe the outcome of that exchange, but from the noise, Issei assumed it wasn't going to be funny.

A cold shiver ran down his spine as he tried to ignore it, but he felt it triple especially when he bumped into someone accidently and actually _felt_ a portion of his HP drain from the impact alone. Ignoring the **-125HP** notification he gained, he shook his head in disbelief, because he could have sworn that the person he had bumped into was a _lich_ dressed in high priests attire. Issei got away from the creepy skeleton-like being and the young woman beside him dressed in a greek-like transparent white gown and equipped with a bow and arrow tied behind her back as quickly as he possibly could. The entire complex was weird, he noted silently as he prepared to use  Observe on the person he bumped into, but noticed that he had vanished.

' _I'm getting some seriously creepy vibes here… maybe it wasn't such a good idea to enter._ ' He darted around and headed into what appeared to be a clothing store. Wandering slightly, Issei cared slightly about the weird looks and gazes he was receiving as though he was a monkey, and headed towards a rack of clothes. His eyes almost bulged out once he spotted the items available.

 **Leather Jacket of Divine Intervention**

 **Defense: + 1500**

 **Enchanted**

 **State – Exquisite [100/100]**

Issei's eyes shone with glee, his mouth almost watering.

 **Fingerless Gloves of the Archangel**

 **Defense: + 1200**

 **Enchanted**

 **State – Exquisite [100/100]**

The black-haired teen giggled like a five year old locked in a candy store.

 **Blessed Boots of Hermes**

 **Defense: + 950**

 **Enchanted**

 **State – Exquisite [100/100]**

Issei couldn't help himself as he burst out into triumphant laughter. He was going to be unstoppable! With the aid of this shop, he would be strong enough to stop all who dared oppose him. Nothing could stop him!

"Sorry sir, I have to ask you to leave."

Issei froze as he stared at two, tall and rather calm looking men dressed in golden suits, with clearly notable swords at their sides. Issei cast a quick Observe on the duo and realized that fighting them was clearly out of the option.

 **Midas Guard Lv. 55**

 **Race: Spirit Warrior**

 **Alignment: Lawful Good**

 **HP: 5500/5500**

 **MP: 1000/1000**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

 **Emotions: Annoyed, Curious.**

 **Basic Bio: A Summoned Guardsman of the Midas Complex.**

He cursed when he spotted the stats of the second guard.

 **Elite Midas Guard Lv. 65**

 **Race: Spirit Warrior**

 **Alignment: Lawful Neutral**

 **HP: 6500/6500**

 **MP: 1500/1500**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

 **Emotions: Bored.**

 **Basic Bio: An elite soul of a warrior trapped to become a guard for the Midas Complex.**

"Sorry, you need to leave. _Now._ "

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **You do not have a high enough Prestige to use this store.**

 **Prestige Required – 10,000**

 **Prestige Available – 315**

"What?" Issei could do nothing as he let himself get hoisted over the shoulder effortlessly, was carried out to front door and tossed out like an empty bag of potatoes onto the sidewalk.

- **10 HP!**

"Prestige?" he muttered out as he rubbed his sore back from his harsh landing.

 **Codex Entry – Prestige**

 **The Game of the Year Edition has included the feature titled, Prestige. Prestige is, as the name implies, the certain respect or esteem an individual has gathered to become well known and respected as someone notable or of value. Prestige grants certain bonuses to social interactions, unlocks locations, and is required for use of certain items. It is not universal however, and if you are respected in one realm, you might not be respected in others.**

 **There are multiple ways to increase Prestige such as gaining an Honored Reputation with either an individual or faction, possessing an extra-ordinarily high Charisma score, or completing feats and quests that will increase your fame or infamy.**

"So I'm not famous enough…" Issei groaned as he picked himself up and dusted his uniform, noting with an annoyed expression that his uniform now spotted several tears in it.

Walking forward, he pondered silently to himself ' _Just one store in that mall-like complex had items with exquisite ratings which should be really high level, not to mention the gold everywhere, the creepy people and then the name of the store. Hell even the guards weren't human… there's no way that it's all just a coincidence…_ '

The dark-haired teen brought up a menu and selected an option from it.

 **Communications with Sentient Life in Sacred Gear has been enabled.**

" _So you finally realized how hopelessly lost you are without my guidance?_ " Ddraig boomed in Issei's head, and the teen could almost see the dragon swelling in pride.

"I'd probably be lost _with_ your guidance." Issei fired back "I just kept getting a weird feeling from the mall I was in. I wanted to know if there was anything off about it."

" _And why should I help you do anything ningen?_ "

"Because whether or not you like it, you're trapped in with me for who knows how long. And I'm pretty sure you have nothing else going on for excitement in your life."

" _Despite my enormous boredom, I still don't have any_ other _reason to help you._ "

Issei raised his hands up in frustration, gathering even more strange looks from people around him "Alright! What do you want?"

" _You'll owe me a favor after this. A certain task I need to have completed."_

"What task?"

" _It's nothing much and it's nothing you'll have to do any time soon."_

"I thought you've been trapped in the Sacred Gear for years, what could you possibly want done that hasn't died of old age?" Issei quipped dryly.

" _It's something you don't need to know right now. Look, I have lived for generations and have knowledge on creatures and beings from all over the world. I can teach you how to use your demonic and holy powers better than some angels or devils ever can. And all I ask in return is a single favor, are you really going to let your paranoia turn this offer down?_ "

Issei pondered the wisdom over making such a risky bet with the Welsh Dragon, but decided to go with his gut on it. At the very least, nothing the Welsh Dragon would throw at him would be bad enough to kill him.

"Fine, you have a deal."

There was a moment of patient silence in which Issei waited for a response.

" _Ningen, you need to leave this area. Now._ "

Issei furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance "Now you sound like those jerks that threw me out. What's the big deal?"

" _I could detect the presence of divine beings, inside that store you just left._ "

"What would a god be doing in a mall?"

" _Not 'a god' you idiot, 'gods' there is more than one god in that building, and I don't know the exact number, but they are certainly more than three, can't you tell just how serious that is?._ "

"I must have slept through 'Divinity 101' in kindergarten." Issei bluntly spat "In case you've forgotten, I didn't even know gods _were_ _real_ until yesterday. So I take it as the gathering of gods isn't a normal occasion?"

" _No. They all have separate realms they govern, and rarely ever meet for anything. Whatever is going on in there is something secret that they don't want anyone knowing."_

"So I guess it's up to me to find out!" Issei grinned as he smacked his fist into his palm.

" _Listen gaki, the Boosted Gear might be a sacred gear capable of slaying gods, but you are nowhere near that level, literally. If you enter into that place again, you WILL die._ "

Issei couldn't help but notice, that despite Ddraig's sarcasm and harsh tones, he still didn't want any harm to befall him. "I was only kidding. I almost got my ass handed to me by a fallen angel, I'm not stupid enough to go charging into a fight with a god." Issei appeased slowly, almost cringing at the memory of his fight with Dohnaseek before he got his Boosted Gear. "So do I just ignore the whole thing or what?"

" _Well the devils in charge of this town seem to be happy doing just that- unless…"_ Ddraig paused as an idea struck him.

"Now what?"

" _Use your powers and channel demonic energy into your eyes before gazing at the store._ "

"Alright." Issei took in a deep breath as he made use of Energy Manipulation. Commanding the dark magic of devil's in his body, he moved it upwards in his body and thrust it into his eyes.

 _PING!_

 **Through the manipulation of energy to suit your needs, you have gained a skill that allows you to perceive the world like a devil! You have gained, Devil's Sight [Active] Lv. 1.**

Issei's eyes opened as he let out a small gasp of awe, suddenly finding himself able to see much farther than before, and areas that were dark or shaded with shadows became as visible as though it was under direct sunlight. He grinned slightly as he realized that his advanced vision would let him view and probably see through the clothes of girls if the material caught light and was even the least bit transparent. However, he'd need to level it up for it to be even minutely clear or accurate.

However, there was a rather noticeable difference.

"What the- it's gone!" Truly, Issei stared back to what was once a giant elegant store, and found nothing but a series of alleyways.

" _I thought as much. But just to be sure, turn off your Devil's Sight and try again with Light Magic."_

Issei rapidly turned off his ability, and channeled Light Magic into his body.

 _PING!_

 **Through the manipulation of energy to suit your needs, you have gained a skill that allows you to perceive the world like an Angel! You have gained, Angel Vision [Active] Lv. 1.**

Once more, Issei opened his eyes and he could swear that he heard the chanting of a choir singing 'Hallelujah' as his gaze fell upon the world. The difference between Angel Vision and Devil's Sight was as clear as day and night. Issei could see much farther and much clearer, but he could also see the hearts of people, he could see their souls and their alignments, he could see they're real faces, the ones they kept hidden to themselves. He could faintly see the faults and weak-points of certain objects and people; however, he realized that he would need to level it up to view it clearly.

Alas, the only thing Issei couldn't see, was the shopping complex.

" _It's as I thought."_ Ddraig muttered slowly.

"There's something preventing both devils and angels from seeing this shop?" Issei added, finally seeing where the Welsh Dragon was heading.

" _Yes. Apparently only gods can enter or see this place. It seems however that your Exodus Switch is powerful enough to be considered a Divine entity, which is why only you can see the building._ "

"Interesting… but not really useful, I can't enter because I don't have enough prestige. So what am I supposed to do with this information?"

 _PING!_

 **New Side Quest!**

Issei groaned "I just had to ask."

 **The Enemy of My Enemy**

 **There is a mysterious shop housing godly presence and it is invisible to Devils and Angels. Its origin and purpose are unknown, but certainly important.**

 **Main Objective: Infiltrate the shopping complex to find out what secret it holds and to discover its purpose.**

 **Secondary Objective: Do not get caught, and do not let your true identity be discovered.**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: ? ? ? ? ? ?**

 **Bonus Rewards: 2500 EXP per Bonus Objective, ? ? ?**

 **Failure: Possible Death, gained status effect: Cursed.**

 **[Y/N]**

"This is way too mysterious for a simple side-quest. It's most likely this is one of those Butterfly quests in disguise… especially since I can decline it if I want to."

" _Do you want to?_ "

"Well, I really need the experience, plus I could probably get to see an actual Goddess… there was a blonde girl in there… I wonder if she was a Goddess…" Issei pondered with a grin and hit the yes button.

" _Of course… You've been displaying so much maturity I almost forgot that you were a pervert._ " Ddraig sighed " _Now that you've guaranteed our demise, what is your plan to infiltrate the building? Charging through the doors would be suicidal, attempting to enter from the roof would also be futile, and the air ventilation system is almost too cliché, assuming there is one."_

Issei paused as he spoke to the dragon, his mind rapidly going over the entire building to find an entrance spot "Hmm… How am I going to find a way into the building?"

 **Intelligence Check Required!**

' _Huh, I almost forgot about stat checks._ '

 **Required Intelligence Multiplier - 30**

 **Total Intelligence Multiplier – 33.5**

 **Check Passed! EXP Gained!**

"Below!" Issei grinned as the idea popped into his mind.

" _Below?"_ Ddraig asked inquisitively.

"You see, during the last World War, Kuoh was used as a base of operations for the army. As such, the town has several hidden bunkers and encampments, but the most predominant one, would be the presence of tunnels that run underneath the city." Issei dictated almost automatically, the random knowledge of trivia he had gotten from certain books and from History class finally being useful.

"Most of them were converted into Subway tunnels, but once the jet train caught on, most subway tunnels were abandoned. The governing council probably has something planned for them later down the line, but as of now…"

Issei rapidly opened his Map and traced a line on it "…there's a tunnel that runs straight from the Shopping District to an abandoned mansion at the edge of the town."

" _Where are you going with this?_ "

Issei continued slowly, walking into an empty alleyway and ensuring that no one could spot him "What I'm saying is that there should be a tunnel directly under the building. If I can get into that tunnel, I'll be able to get into the building."

" _This building isn't on any maps and is most likely a construct of supernatural power. You are highly certain, that you'll find an entrance linked to the tunnels?_ "

"The chance is rather slim but… I saw that girl and man enter an elevator, _descending_ downwards. Unless the elevator leads to another world or realm, the chance of finding an entrance under the building through the tunnels is the best I've got."

" _And how will you get into the tunnels?_ "

The Gamer grinned as he stared at a manhole cover "Through the sewers."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 _Clink!_

The familiar echo of a canned drink dropping from a vending machine echoed quietly amongst the hustle and bustle of the streets of Kuoh. A soft hand reached into the machine, grabbed the orange-soda, and flicked it open with a soft hiss. The blue-haired girl with her hair tied up neatly into a ponytail, wearing a casual black tank-top and an open grey jacket over a pair of blue jeans and sneakers swirled the can in her grasp. Watching as the fizz increased, she brought the drink to her lips and drowned more than half of it in one gulp.

She stared at the can and mused "Half-empty." She muttered quietly as she tossed the half-finished can into a trash with a silent sigh. Turning down the street, she let both her mind and body wander.

Tsubasa Yura was generally a contented girl. She was satisfied with what she usually had, she was also satisfied with what she had gained. While most devils had a strong motivator pushing them forward, Tsubasa only motivation was to repay the 'debt' she had to Sona. Arguably, becoming a devil was something that had never crossed her mind several years back, but it didn't really come as a shock to her. She wasn't overly religious, nor was she overly paranoid. When her parents had died several years back, she was left in the custody of her older sister. Clearly, they fell into financial crisis not long after, and there was always the possible threat of her being taken away from her sister. Back then, Tsubasa admired her sister. Her older sister had actually been nice, cheery, and could be considered as her perfect antithesis. Whereas Tsubasa was cynical, her sister was open-minded. Where Tsubasa was sarcastic and blunt, her sister was more subtle and caring. She radiated wonderful warmth that made it pleasurable to be around her. She cared deeply about other individuals, helped them when they were in need, showed them compassion and had a generous heart even though she herself was poor. Tsubasa wanted to be like her sister when she grew up. She wanted to be nice, to try and solve everyone's problems, to be radiant and beautiful, to be cheerful and honest.

Tsubasa scoffed to herself, drawing looks from passing pedestrians which she expertly ignored. If only she had known that caring so much about other people, and doing everything in your power to make them whole came at the debilitating cost of tearing yourself apart.

The mask shattered and her sister broke under pressure. The rate at which she collapsed was alarming to everyone who knew her; parties non-stop, smoking, drinking, and gambling. She had partied too hard and too fast, she gambled away and though she sometimes won, she eventually lost big, throwing both Tsubasa and herself into a deeper debt than they previously had before. The debtors knocking on their door each and every day, the constant threats she received, Tsubasa couldn't count how many times a knife had been placed on her neck as they threatened to kill her if her sister couldn't pay off her debts. One thing led to the next, she joined a gang consisted of delinquents and a certain guy whose father was in the pockets of the Yakuza. Finally, her sister and her small gang of friends had decided to try their hand in robbery.

Tsubasa was pretty sure that her sister and her crew did not expect that the old lady in the jewelry store they broke into was a war veteran. Or maybe at the very least, they didn't expect the woman to fight back. Well at least they definitely didn't expect her to possess a gun. It was Japan after all; firearm regulations were as tight as possible.

Perhaps if they had expected all of that, her sister might still be alive.

Tsubasa asked herself day after day, was it her fault that her sister had died? If she had never been born would her sister have had things easier for herself?

It didn't take long to become the new target of the debtors. They didn't care about her sister's death and only wanted their money. Desperation sunk in and she began running jobs for the Yakuza. Stealing, cheating, lying, extortion and fraud became her bread and butter, she lived a double life of attending classes by day and luring unsuspecting folks into alleyways by night. Until finally, she had saved up what she needed to buy her freedom, to get her life back.

Her dreams had crashed around her like waves of despair. The group didn't want to let her go, they were content with using her as their agent. She tried to leave, but they couldn't have that happen. Tsubasa remembered her death, tossed off a cliff, her body tumbling as though she'd been backhanded by a titan, her bones cracked like steel hammer against glass, her organs ruptured like water balloons in a vice-grip. She collapsed a bloody, broken smear on the floor.

Tsubasa chuckled bitterly. Her entire life story was probably as pathetic as the sermons given to little children in churches. All she had ever wanted, was to not be a burden. All she wanted was to not be some damsel in distress needed to be saved. Had that been too much to ask?

It was only as she lay on the ground, bleeding and in pain, finally ready to meet with sweet, comfortable death, that she had met the devil called Sitri Sona. She could faintly remember the bespectacled girl, and it struck her, she was one of the few people that Tsubasa had stolen from. Sona had revived her and Tsubasa did nothing but stand in awe as she watched the girl, who seemed to be her age, and who seemed to be less athletic than she was, wipe out the Yakuza like an exterminator would a nest of hornets. It was a sight that filled her with utter hope and adulation. Sona was not a devil, no, she was an angel. Sitri Sona was an angel who had descended from the heavens themselves to deliver her from her plight.

Tsubasa's awe had died once she realized what being a devil entailed, once she came to face with the harsh reality that was nowhere near as tempting as the advertisement. Originally, Tsubasa didn't have any purpose for living besides self-sufficiency. So, she had then decided to set a new goal for herself, to find a new reason for living. And finally, she had settled on her goal.

She wanted to explore the world. She wanted to cruise the seas, to feel beneath her feet the sands of the deserts and the snow of the ice caps. She wanted to laugh as she pointed at people's awe-struck faces as she took pictures on top of the pyramids of Egypt and sunbathed in the nude on the head of the Sphinx. She wanted to mischievously throw pies at couples from the peak of the Eiffel Tower and plant the flag from the Tree Village in the Icha Icha series on the top of Mount Everest. She wanted to skydive out of a plane into the Niagara falls or simply watch people's expression as she bungee-jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. She wanted to do crazy things that no one had ever done before, and she wanted to stop merely _existing_ , she wanted to _live_.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't because she was bound to Sona as her servant, forced to obey the girl's orders, fight her battles, protect her, and become her sword and shield until she advanced in rank and could be freed from her servitude. Refusal meant being cast out as a stray devil which was the equivalent of basically painting a giant sign in neon orange on her back saying 'Kill me now!'

Tsubasa wasn't born yesterday. She didn't have rose-colored glasses on like most other members of the Sitri's peerage, and no matter how they tried to paint it, no matter how they voiced it, her options were _still_ obey or die. When she had been brought back to life, she had not been expecting to face such an ultimatum, _again_. The bitter truth of the scenario haunted her as she put up a satisfied smile and went along with the rest of Sona's peerage who did not have her experience. The truth left a disgusted taste in her mouth that made her sick.

All she had done was trade one master for another.

But things had changed. Now, she had somehow found freedom from Sona's peerage. Her Rook piece was no longer within her, she was free. She had no real reason to be bound back to the devil, and she could truly actualize her dream. Yet, they actually _wanted_ her to go back? They _wanted_ her to return to Sona's servitude? It was utterly and absolutely ridiculous.

Despite her defiance, Tsubasa knew that she couldn't actualize her dreams without the funds or necessities she needed. She couldn't teleport around the world freely and she didn't have enough money to _board_ a plane much less own one. She was still a devil, and now, she was much weaker than before with the lack of the  Rook piece augmenting her body. She grimaced as the realized that a devil without the backing of a Clan or Family was almost as good as stray, and as such, it seemed that she would have to be fighting off threats from the Angels and Exorcists every day of her life.

It seemed that she was once more left with an ultimatum, re-join Sona as her servant to gain her protection, or don't rejoin and she would have to face the enemies of devils alone, as she was, weakened and without allies. If only she had been resurrected back to life as a human, she wouldn't have to worry about Exorcist's or fallen angels killing her.

Tsubasa bit her lip in frustration. Once more it seemed that all the problems in her life occurred from a lack of ability. If only she wasn't so weak, if she wasn't so poor, if she wasn't so useless.

" _I'm expendable… I can easily be replaced. I don't have any Sacred Gears or special talents, I can't do most things other pieces can. I'm just the tank who draws a bulk of attention away from the rest."_

Tsubasa cringed as she stopped and rapidly held her hand against her head. It felt as though her mind was being squeezed by an invisible force. ' _What was that?'_

The former Rook of the Sitri peerage shook her head as she decided to get an actual meal instead of just orange soda. She spotted a small fast-food stand besides a grocery store not far away from her position, and a thought came to her head. ' _Didn't I… didn't I meet Hyoudou at a grocery store?_ '

The girl walked forward toward the stand and blinked as another image flashed across her mind with agonizing pain. _"Even you… a pervert who everybody thinks of as worthless, found the most insane way to defeat an exorcist, while I couldn't do anything but be a weak damsel in distress."_

Tsubasa blinked away the stinging tears in her eyes as she moved towards the stand ' _An exorcist? Hyoudou-san beat an exorcist? That impossible, he's just a normal human, right? Gah, why are my memories so jumbled up?_ '

Tsubasa regained her breath as she approached the stand; her eyes squinted as she developed a massive headache. She honestly couldn't remember what had happened that had led to her second death and resurrection. It was all a blur of memories, all she did remember were voices, a large battle and finally, her waking up on Sona's front door in the morning. All she could remember was that it had something to do with Hyoudou Issei. The troublesome teen who had literally gone from most hated to most scandalous in the time-span of a single day. Somehow beating and sending Murayama, the captain of the kendo club, to the hospital with a single strike.

Sona clearly knew about her past, and she also knew that Tsubasa had more of a penchant for deception than anyone else in her peerage. So, she had sent her to woo the Hyoudou enough to make him part of her peerage. Tsubasa could faintly remember begrudgingly accepting the task and then stalking the teen to a Supermarket. However, everything else from there was mostly blank.

"Here you go miss, have your… Taiyaki with red bean soup, best to eat it while it's hot I guess."

Tsubasa glanced down at the extremely unusual combination of meals that had even the chef strangely looking at her, and rose her eyebrows in confusion. "I just came in. I haven't ordered anything yet."

"Your cute little friend ordered this for you." The man behind the counter stated as he pointed over to another seat. Tsubasa set her gaze in the direction of his fingers with slight intrigue as she saw someone she was not expecting to meet.

"Hello Tsubasa-sempai" the girl stated in her usual bland monotone, as she gently nibbled on her taiyaki.

With a sigh, Tsubasa knew that their incoming conversation was one of those ones she wished she didn't have to sit through while sober "Hello Koneko-chan."

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

* * *

 **Kuoh General Hospital**

Murayama had been thinking. She lay on her bed in her hospital robes which were torn and tattered, her eyes were vacant and lifeless as she stared into the ceiling, surrounded by several nurses who gave her pitying looks, and a female doctor who was barking orders left and right. The heart monitor gave weak, slow beeps, before it rapidly increased, giving sharp, fast beeps that multiplied the tension in the room.

She was told that the Operation would be done in two days. It was fine, she didn't mind. She was told that there was a fifty percent chance of success. That was also fine, and she could deal with those odds. She was then told that even if the operation was successful, she would never be able to compete in most sport activities ever again. That, however, had taken the cake.

"She's gone into cardiac arrest! Get me the defibrillator! _"_

Yes, it was her fault for wanting to humiliate Hyoudou. Yes, she made the bet, yes, she made the wager. She would have beaten and humiliated him, and it was wrong of her. She had been using him as an outlet, to channel through all her rage and emotion, all her sorrow and confliction. She had wanted a punching bag, and the teen had looked like a good one. However, she had learned her lesson not to take underestimate people in the worst way possible. Yet, to be told that one mistake would end her entire career and life, it was too much to handle.

" _Clear!_ "

She wouldn't have permanently injured him. She wouldn't have done any lasting damage. He wouldn't have had to go through surgery. It was all supposed to be a joke, just some fun. Honestly, he was right somewhat. A part of her liked him, she liked his freedom and honesty, his openness and sincerity. He didn't have a clan of swordsmen behind him pressuring him to be the best at everything he did, nor did he find himself buried by responsibility, nor was he trying to live up to someone's expectations. Everything about him was as he wished it to be. He was someone who enjoyed his life to the fullest and did whatever he wished without care of the consequences. She admired that about him.

Yet, he came and made her feel like it was all her fault. She simply wanted to shift the blame to him, she wanted to use him as an outlet for everything that was wrong with her life. She wanted him to be her excuse. Ultimately however, it was her fault. It remained her fault. It was her mistake. But to realize that while she would be facing the risk of death or permanent injury, the Hyoudou would go scot free with nothing more than a wounded reputation was infuriating. It was absolutely enraging. Why did she have to suffer more? Why did she have to be the one to bear the brunt of everything? Why was she the one who had to face the disappointed gazes of her father and the dispassionate gaze of her step-mother as they considered her a disappointment? Why was she the one who would be disowned if she was no longer capable of performing kendo?

She had thought a lot about what he had said. And she had finally reached a resolution. No matter how wrong it seemed, the truth remained certain.

 _She was angry at him_.

"It's not working!"

"Try again! _Clear!_ "

It was her fault. It was all her fault. It was her fault. Her mind repeated the phrase over and over, and it got her nowhere. Blaming herself did nothing. Hyoudou didn't face possible death. He didn't face possibility of being paralyzed. He was probably off somewhere without a care in the world. He didn't have the burdens she had on her shoulder, he didn't have any responsibilities to uphold, he didn't have anyone to impress.

He didn't experience true, unspeakable horror.

It was easier to place the blame on him. Everything would be better if she blamed him. If only he didn't exist, or perhaps, if only he hadn't caused such a distraction in class, she would have never had the need to speak to him. She would have never have challenged him to a duel. She would have been content with simply beating him whenever she caught him peeking.

"We're losing her!"

"Keep trying! _Clear!_ "

So it was his fault. Her irrational mind told her. Blame Hyoudou.

Blame Hyoudou.

Blame Hyoudou.

Blame Hyoudou.

Blame Hyoudou for her misery. Blame Hyoudou for the pain she went through.

If not for him, she would have never been in this hospital. If not for him, she would have never had cause to be injured and to wait for surgery. If not for him, she would have never met an insane silver haired priest that seemingly knew and had a vendetta against her father.

"Come on! Come on! Don't die on me! _Clear!"_

If not for Hyoudou, she would have never known the man called Freed Selzen who entered her hospital room. If not for Hyoudou, she would have not possessed a broken neck and she would have been able to fight back. If not for Hyoudou, she would have had the strength to scream for help as the mad man tore away at her gown.

"Don't die damn it! Fight it! Fight! _Clear!_ "

If not for Hyoudou, she would not have suffered the most sickening experience of her entire lifetime. If not for Hyoudou, she would not have been poisoned by an unknown substance that the priest had.

"Doctor… the heart monitor…" the room became deadly silent as a flat, monotone beep echoed and descended on the occupants like a phantom menace.

The doctor said nothing as she glanced at her report. "Inform the police… they might want to begin their investigations now."

 _Blame Hyoudou._

"September third, ten twenty-six A.M. patient Busujima Murayama; cause of death: cardiac arrest sustained as a result of poison with an unknown chemical… and sexual assault."

 _If not for Hyoudou, she would not be dead._

…

 _Snap!_

The temperature of the room dropped several thousand degrees. The doctor and nurses had goosebumps running down their skin as they stared at the body of the girl with slight trepidation, after hearing the snap occur from her neck.

Their minds calmed when they noticed nothing out of the ordinary, except for one, tiny fact that they all seemed to miss. The medical experts realized the horrific truth of the one fact they had seemed to miss.

 _Corpses don't blink_.

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **: Yeah... you guys are going to so kill me for this one.**

 **I'll display Issei's updated stats next chapter.**

 **So who is the mysterious Vampire Princess? What will Sirzechs order Grayfia to do? Who are the remaining two leaders of the Four Emperors of the Underworld? Will Issei be able to complete his side quest? What does Koneko want with Tsubasa? Where is Naruto right now? What will happen to poor ol' Murayama? Will Freed pay for his heinous crime? Will Hidan ever escape his bondage? Random rhetorical question! Random rhetorical question! RANDOM RHETORICAL QUESTION!**

 **Find out the answers to these and more on the next edition of Dragon of Dragons - Game Of The Year Edition!**

 **R &R!**

 ** _Silent Songbird._ **


	8. Time Waits For No Man

**A/N:** **I sincerely apologize for the delay in updating. I was hit by writer's block due to the severely mixed reviews I received last chapter. I had this chapter written already... but re-wrote it three times because of how uncertain I felt about how it would be treated. While I did enjoy realizing that people still like this story, there were certain reviewers that made rather harsh points. Looking back, I realized that I got caught up in writing drama a little _too_ much and I lost sight of my true goal. **

**Another reviewer also pointed out that there were too many side-stories/activities going on to keep up with all the action, and I realized that although it made perfect sense in my head, I may not be writing it out for others to understand and enjoy as perfectly as I imagined, so I might cut down on the side-activities for now. And for the ones that are there, pay close attention to the 'time' indicated, as it might make things a bit easier to understand... or it might just make you more confused.**

 **Now one thing, multiple reviewers have commented on how quickly things have escalated or are escalating. Please do know that the rapid acceleration of events is purely intentional, and is not just me rushing the plot. I've planned a _minimum_ of 70 chapters for this story, so trust me when I say that events haven't even begun to start.**

 **Also, here is the truth I am going to give you all: even if you don't like where the story is going, kindly patiently keep reading until Chapter 9. Once I get that chapter uploaded and you _still_ don't like the way the story is going, then feel free to kindly stop reading, but not without telling me what it was about it that turned you off. I can't improve if I never know what's wrong now can I?**

 **So, without further ado...**

* * *

 **~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Chapter 7: Time Waits For No Man**

* * *

 **The Midas Complex**

 **11:51 AM**

"A human actually entered the Midas Complex?" A security guard asked with slight surprise, as he walked through a golden corridor with a fellow officer, he warily glanced at the gathering of gods that had occurred.

"It was rather strange though… he shouldn't have been able to see the building, much less enter it." The Midas Guard that had thrown out the intruder pondered silently.

"Think he'll come back?"

"Yes, but not through the main door" the Midas Guard stated briefly "If that boy's done his homework, he'll most likely attempt to use the sewers and underground to get in."

"Shouldn't we try to stop him?"

The second guard simply smirked "We already have."

* * *

~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition_ ~~~~~~

 **Kuoh Districts**

 **11:52 AM**

"So… you think that something bad is going to happen to Hyoudou… and you want my help to figure out what." Tsubasa munched on her meal slowly as she glanced over to the petite girl beside her.

"Hai Tsubasa-sempai. I can't sense Hyoudou-san's presence anymore."

"Maybe that means he simply left Kuoh?"

Koneko shook her head "I would have sensed him leave."

Tsubasa sighed "What do you need to find him for? And Why come to me? You have Rias or Kiba or Akeno who are much more capable."

"Because I think Hyoudou-sempai was the one who removed your Rook Piece."

Tsubasa froze mid-bite. "… you want to know if he can do the same for you?"

Koneko's said nothing. Her gaze averted, and that was enough information for Tsubasa to understand.

 _BOOM!_

The two devils jumped out of the store as they spotted a massive pillar of smoke shoot into the sky, coming from the direction of Kuoh's hospital.

Dark clouds in the sky gathered and flashes of lightning could be seen from them.

"This… doesn't look good."

* * *

~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition_ ~~~~~~

 **Kuoh Academy**

 **Occult Research Club**

 **11:53 AM**

"Rias, Lord Sirzechs has instructed me to take you and your peerage to the underworld immediately."

Grayfia had appeared in the middle of the Occult Research Club, and without preamble, she had immediately ordered Rias to follow her. Akeno furtly glanced at her King, and Kiba sheathed the blades he had wielded the moment he felt someone appear into the club uninvited.

"And why would ni-sama order that?"

Grayfia turned and stared at Rias with a perfectly calm expression. "Can you not feel the overwhelming amount of Holy Energy gathering in the atmosphere?"

Rias responded calmly "Yes I can. I was on my way to investigate the cause with Sona before you arrived here."

"That would be highly unwise." Grayfia's tone stressed the words out slowly as her impeccable expression lost it's calmness.

"And why would that be?" Sona walked into the room with her arms crossed, trailed by her own peerage.

 _BOOM!_

The entire room shook from the force of the vibration, the chandelier's rattled and the candles were put off from the burst of wind that seemed to follow.

Grayfia glanced at the stunned girls as she ignored the yells that echoed in the background of the school "Because I already know the cause, and it is something that not even the two of you combined together would be able to deal with."

"Even worse... It is something, that not even _I_ will be able to deal with."

* * *

 _~~~~ **Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition** ~~~~~~_

* * *

 **Kuoh Sewers**

 **10:05 AM**

 **Location Discovered – Kuoh Sewers System!** **Gained 25 EXP!**

"Neat." Issei stated as he descended downwards.

 _PING!_

 **WARNING!**

 **You have entered a ? Zone,**

 **? is now currently ? ? ?**

 **You also gain ? ? ?**

 **Are you absolutely certain you wish to proceed?**

 **[Y/N]**

"What is that supposed to mean? And what's with all the question marks?" Issei wondered aloud.

" _I'm not entirely sure… but it comes with a warning sign, and that's enough reason to be wary._ "

"Do you think I should risk it?"

" _The outcome of your choice depends solely on you and no one else. If this backfires, I'm not taking any heat from it._ "

With slight trepidation, Issei selected the yes button and watched the notification close.

After waiting several seconds with seemingly no disaster occurring, he began his descent into the sewers. "Well, whatever it was, it doesn't seem to have any adverse effects."

After descending for a while, he scrunched up his nose in distaste "Gah, this place reeks! It's so dark and gloomy…" Issei grumbled to himself as he climbed down the ladder underneath the manhole leading into the city sewer system.

" _It's a sewer._ " Ddraig sarcastically bit out. " _What were you expecting, Rainbows and Unicorns?_ "

Issei paused mid-climb, selectively choosing to ignore the sarcasm which was now becoming the norm between dragon and host "Are Unicorns real?"

" _The existence of the creature known as the unicorn has yet to be found as factual, yet there is no evidence either which states that it is non-factual."_

The black-haired teen blinked "Does that mean they are real or does that mean they aren't?"

" _It means that just because no one has seen one doesn't mean they aren't real. Honestly boy, your ability to switch from genius to idiot at a moment's notice is both amazing and horrifying._ "

"Well, thanks."

" _That wasn't a compliment_."

"I know."

 _BOOM!_

A shockwave stunned the teen as he fell from his slow descent, crashing blindly into what he felt to be hard pavement as he noted he lost **10HP** from the fall.

"What the hell was that?" he groaned to himself as he noted the entire sewer system still shaking somewhat from the force of the explosion.

" _An explosion, it came from somewhere in the town._ "

"Something really creepy is going on in Kuoh." He muttered as he got to his feet and tried to dust himself up, only to notice that in the total darkness of the sewers, he could barely see his hand in front of his face "Do I have a light source on me? Inventory."

 **Inventory:-**

 **Used: 16/1000**

 **Items:**

 **Kuoh Academy Books x 4**

 **A Nice Meal x 1**

 **Badly Burnt Meal x 33**

 **Pencil x 2**

 **Pen x 2**

 **Time Table x 1**

 **Stink Gas Bomb x 1**

 **Chloroform x 2**

 **Hydrogen Peroxide x 1**

 **Needle and Thread x 50**

 **Fine Silk x 50**

 **Fine Leather x 50**

 **Fine Cotton x 50**

 **Kitchen Knives x 8**

 **Exorcist's Gun x 1**

 **Exorcist's Sword x 1**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Body - Classic Kuoh Academy Uniform x 1 [Equipped]**

 **Feet - Average School Shoes x 1 [Equipped]**

 **Accessory 1 - Normal Wristwatch x 1 [Equipped]**

 **Accessory 2 – None**

 **Accessory 3 – None**

 **Head – None**

 **Quick Slots Available: 9**

 **Quick Slots Used: None.**

"Oh that's right, I can see in the dark now. Devil's Sight."

The black-haired teen instantly activated his Devil's Sight, smiling when he realized he could see the sewers clearly. The sewers were well constructed, mostly carved out in a cylindrical pattern with concrete and had several supporting steel beams that stretched on for several miles. There were two sides consisting of narrow, damp and weak-looking walkways which had several turns that spread out into a complicated system that was more of a maze than it was anything else. Separating both sides was a river of flowing greenish-brown liquid with the consistency of honey, possessing a putrid odor of human waste and excrements mixed with the decaying smell of a dead rodent. All in all, it was exactly almost as Issei had expected a sewer to be. Staring down his own path, he realized that it wouldn't take him long at all to get to his destination.

However, there was something that gave him pause, Issei heard a sound which echoed like the stomping of feet. Turning to look behind him, he noted a creature charging at him with incredible speed. It was the same size as a full grown wolf, but had brownish-grey fur and large, glowing red eyes, with foam frothing at the mouth of the creature.

"What the hell is that?" Issei jumped as he instantly used Observe.

 **Giant Sewer Rat Lv. 20**

 **Race: Mutant**

 **Alignment: N/A**

 **HP: 850/850**

 **MP: 100/100**

 **Current Status Effects: Frenzied.**

 **Bio: A creature mutated by the resulting combination of residue godly energy and hazardous waste. Its fangs bear a debilitating poison, and it will stop at nothing to tear through anything in its path. It has a high attack power and speed but a rather weak defense. Beware, a single bite from this creature will leave you writhing in agony.**

" _The great wielder of the Exodus Switch and Boosted Gear, mauled to death by a giant rat while crawling the sewers of his home town. It would make a tragedy worthy of Sophocles._ " Ddraig dryly quipped.

Issei didn't have time to respond as the creature fell upon him instantly with its fangs bared at him. The giant, mutated fangs of the rat were more like daggers than teeth as they crashed into the spot Issei dodged away from, tearing through the cemented floors like tissue paper.

"Why…" Issei growled angrily as he performed a double backflip, narrowly avoiding his head being swiped off from the rat's claws which were as sharp as senbon needles.

"Did it…" The black haired teen dove underneath the stinky fur of the giant rodent, only to recoil backwards as the creature's tail grabbed his left ankle and hoisted him off the ground.

"Have to be…" the creature tried to slam him against the wall, but Issei evaded the attack by sacrificing his left shoe, slipping out of the rodent's attack, spinning in mid-air and landing against the wall in a vertical crouch with the aid of his Tree Walking skill.

"Rats!" the teen propelled himself off the wall with a burst of Chakra, swirling himself in the air as he righted his body, spun and delivered a perfect butterfly kick to the rodent's skull with his right foot, slamming the creature into the concrete.

"Critical Strike!"

 **Critical Hit!**

 _PING!_

 **You used the skill 'Leaf Whirlwind' of the Goken fighting style! Beginner Level Taijutsu has gone up by 10!**

The notification gave Issei a slight pause, wondering how he had performed the technique that had felt completely natural to him, yet it was a move in a fighting style he did not possess. Putting it at the back of his mind for the main time, he felt something definitely crack with his attack, as the creature's skull impacted with the concrete, with enough force to leave an indent shaped exactly like the rat's head. He leaped away to view his handy work.

 **Giant Sewer Rat Lv. 20**

 **HP: 0/850**

 **MP: 100/100**

 **Current Status Effects: Deceased.**

 **Gained 1000 EXP!**

" _How did you do that?_ " Ddraig's voice was lacking all forms of sarcasm for once as he sounded genuinely baffled.

Issei simply grabbed his fallen shoe, frowning once he noticed that it was now truly torn beyond repair, but still put it on, his mind deciding to give Ddraig a truthful but not entirely true explanation "I hate rats."

" _You defeated an opponent twice your level with a single well aimed strike, which was apparently a move in a fighting style you do not possess, doing maximum critical damage, and your explanation for it all is 'you hate rats'?"_

"Yep." Issei added glibly, noticing as the monster's body began glowing with a slight hue. The gamer walked forward as he noted the rat's body breaks away into particles of light, leaving only objects on the ground where it once was.

" _You are a rather interesting human, Hyoudou._ "

"It's nothing special really. Most of my stats are higher than they are supposed to be anyway. And despite the game force working, the real world logic also applies. With physics and gravity along with the required power, momentum and strategy, I should be able to take out certain opponents with strategically launched attacks." Issei shrugged, absentmindedly noting that it was the first time the dragon had addressed him by his name, no matter how formal it was.

" _Despite the level difference?_ "

"It doesn't matter if you're level one or level one thousand. If someone hits you in the balls with a sledge-hammer, you'll be going down all the same." Ddraig could not help but realize just how true that was. And also how painful that sounded.

"I think the rat dropped items." He stared at the floor where the rat previously was and spotted a vial of greenish liquid, a tooth and some coins.

"Wait… The rat dropped items." Issei's mind tried to compute the information slowly, as he stared at the coins and vial which he was certain that the beast could not have been holding on its person. He was apt at video game logic. You killed or slayed a monster or beast, and then you gained loot. It was pretty much the main way to gain cash and items in most RPG games that the Hyoudou had ever played. Trying to apply that logic in the real world was bizarre, yet, Issei had to remind himself that he lived in a world where angels, demons, and apparently, unicorns were real.

" _The Exodus Switch manipulates time and space, distorting the normal rules and logic of the universe. At this point in time, something like this doesn't surprise me anymore._ "

"I never imagined it was that powerful... who created this Exodus Switch anyway? And why even give it to me?"

" _I suppose that's something you'll have to ask the blond man when next you see him._ "

Issei's sighed to himself as he put aside all the questions in his mind and used Observe on the items.

 **10,600 Ryo**

 **Rat Tooth – Crafting Item**

 **Rat Poison**

"How in the world does a rat drop rat poison? Is that a paradox of some sort?"

" _It's not a poison made to kill a rat, it's a poison gotten from a rat. There's a difference_."

"Is there any rule saying that a poison gotten from a rat can't kill a rat? In that case, wouldn't it be a pun on itself?"

" _How about you test it out, I'm sure these lovely fellows gathering while we were talking would be happy to oblige._ "

 _TING!_

 _TING!_

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

Issei glanced into the sewers, wondering what the dragon was talking about as he felt the familiar shiver run down his spine from detecting an enemy presence. Yet, he couldn't see any approaching enemies. Right until he heard the growls. And then he spotted one pair of angry red eyes appear in the sewers. Followed by another, then the next, until all around him, all he could see were the frenzied, red eyes of the berserk giant rodents. A quick count with Observe told him that there were no less than fifty of the creatures, and the number was still rapidly increasing.

" _Well, I don't think this could possibly get any worse_."

 **Anarchy's Incarnate Enabled! Randomizing Type and Level of one Enemy!**

Issei cringed as he saw a blast of fire and heard an unholy roar come from within the sewers. As the gamer noticed the rodents the size of wolves charge at him in an embodiment of his worst nightmare, he couldn't help but sport a shit-eating grin.

"Well, this just might work in my favor for once." Issei grinned as he channeled energy throughout his body and got into a basic martial arts style.

" _How does this work in your favor?_ "

 **Chaotic Response Selected.**

The Gamer charged his Critical Strike ability in preparation for battle, he responded slowly "This…"

Utilizing Sprint for a burst of speed, he spun and caught a charging rodent by the claws, slamming his fist into the rodent's neck for a critical hit that sent the beast tumbling into more of its own kind. "Is…"

Issei felt a rush of adrenaline that made him feel like he was capable of single-handedly charging through the armies of Julius Cesar, and beheading said emperor with nothing but a chop of his hand. His enhanced agility enabled him to narrowly evade two swipes that would have taken off his head, but instead tore a chunk off of his shirt instead. He did not pause as grabbed the attacking rodent by the ears.

"Grinding!" he slammed his foot into the creatures belly, booting it off into the deep recesses of the sewage with a sickening splash of green unmentionables, drenching the dark haired teen and utterly destroying whatever remained of his school uniform.

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu has gone up by 6!**

 **Critical Strike has gone up by 5!**

 **Sprint has gone up by 4!**

Issei let out a chuckle as he closed the notifications, however a more rational part of him was somewhat curious.

' _Why are my skill gains so high from just using them a couple of times? Something seems off here… But I guess it's best not to look a gift horse in the mouth._ " Digging into his inventory, he equipped his Exorcist's Gun and Blade, dual-wielding the two weapons with the gun in his left hand and his blade in his right.

 **Ambidextrous Dual-Wielding! Attack Speed has been increased by 50%!**

He extended the glowing blade forward as he Sensed an attack, and without turning around, he extended his left hand backwards and pulled the trigger.

 _BLAM!_

 **Critical Hit!**

Issei didn't need to turn around to know that he had landed a clean headshot on the creature.

 _PING!_

 **Through the act of wielding a firearm to use against your opponent, a new skill has been unlocked! Marksmanship [Passive] Lv. 1. This skill requires heavy use of the Dexterity Stat, the higher the stat, the greater the boosts provided.**

 **Effects: Increases accuracy of all ranged weapons and attacks by 10% every ten levels.**

 **Increases handling and reload time of all ranged weapons by 10% every ten levels.**

 **Grants an additional 5% boost in Attack Speed with any ranged weapon every ten levels.**

Issei grinned as he gazed upon the charging rodents who seemed to have lost their previous vigor. He hoisted his left arm up the smoking barrel of the holy weapon pointed at his enemies "Did someone call for the exterminator?"

* * *

 **~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

 **11:55 AM**

"So… the day has finally come." Kokabiel levitated in the sky fiercely with an unreadable expression as he watched Raynare and Kalawarner drag in a young, blonde nun.

Valper Galilei stood off to the side, furiously typing away at his computer and making what was supposed to be the last preparations for the procedure.

"Raynare, I trust there was no trouble?"

"Yes Kokabiel-sama, she apparently fled from the protection of the Catholic Church and sought refuge with the Anglicans, but it made no difference as they easily gave her out." Raynare smirked as she stared at the broken, betrayed look on the nun's face.

"She has nowhere to go and no one to aid her. It was easy enough to capture her."

Kokabiel nodded, "Has she healed up Dohnaseek?"

Raynare bowed "Of course Kokabiel-sama, he is still unconscious, but he has been fully healed of his wounds."

The ten-winged fallen angel nodded and glanced over to Valper with an impatient gaze "Are you not ready?"

The scientist, shifted uncomfortably as he stuttered slightly, a far cry away from his usual confident self "Ah… you see, I require certain items which I requested Freed Selzen to gain from a liaison at Kuoh General."

Kokabiel's lips thinned "Did you, with all your self-proclaimed wisdom, send Freed Selzen, on a requisition mission?"

Valper's flinched at the slight to his intelligence, what made it worse was when he spotted both Raynare and Kalawarner possessing hidden smirks "He was, at the time, the only one available." The scientist cleared his throat "I know Selzen has as much tact and subtlety as a charging bull in a china shop, but surely I expected him to be able to complete such a minor task."

The ten-winged fallen angel shook his head and sighed "It seems I am truly surrounded by incompetent buffoons."

Whilst the two female fallen angels might have taken the insult without missing a beat, Valper attempted to object, only to squeak at the blade of light that hovered directly in between his eyes.

"Selzen has always been a loose-cannon, but now he has proven to be utterly worthless. Once he returns, ensure that he is suitably punished at least or outright eliminated at most." Kokabiel then sternly gazed at Valper.

"And now, complete your experiment."

"But… but! I need those stabilizers to contain the subject, the results without them the results could be-"

"I don't care." Kokabiel's gaze pierced through that of the scientist "I have been patient for far too long, Azazel and Baraqiel have finally gotten wind of my plans and they can jeopardize the entire project within the next three days. I want results, now."

With a firm voice, the fallen-angel gestured and had Raynare drag the nun, Asia into a closed off cubicle, in which her Sacred Gear would be utilized, forcefully extracted and used to power the device, which would most likely lead to her death.

Raynare only wished she could have obtained the Twilight Healing for herself.

"Do it now, or die."

The mortal man rushed his procedure, pushing buttons, levers and accelerating his fingers across a keyboard with his own life being used as the incentive to ensure that he performed a perfect job without error. Lights flashed in the room as monitors and warning signs began blaring.

The silver-haired man, gagged and bound let out a mind-breaking scream reminiscent of the mad bellows of a wounded animal, and similarly to the other side, the young, innocent girl thrashed around in agony. Most likely, she would not survive the procedure.

"It's actually working… I mean, it's working!" The occupants in the room, Raynare, Kokabiel and Kalawarner watched with an emotion akin to the blend of repulsion and fascination, as the man began changing in form, his skin got lighter, his silver hair shone brighter, and white lines began forming on his body.

And then his chains began rattling.

"What are the chances of him escaping his confinement during the process?" Kokabiel inquisitively asked.

Valper, slightly distracted, let out a confident smirk once more "Those chains are blessed with the blood of dozens of angels, and enchanted to be several times stronger. They are capable of restraining a god for a short while. The chances of him escaping are almost one in a million."

Kokabiel immediately felt something akin to dread, as he watched thick, black wings sprout out of the man's backs like a living being. He was right to feel so, as mere seconds later, the entire room began shaking.

An alarm, completely unrelated to the test subject rung sharply, and Valper immediately glanced at it. He switched on a small screen, which was a television, as it displayed a smoking crater in Kuoh, and a pillar of light emanating from the area. One of the drugs he had given to Selzen had actually worked. However, somehow, there was a resonance between the victim Selzen had injected, and his own test patient.

It was almost like they were somehow linked through an unexplained force. But then, the only possible catalyst would be… blood. Valper's face paled as he noted his meters rising faster than they should be.

The Scientist might not have known it, but the silver haired-man had belonged to a religion called the Cult of Jashin, and he utilized a technique in which he would absorb the blood of his enemies and link their fates, in which any damage that occurred to him would also occur to his enemy. The process however, also worked in reverse. If someone should drink his blood or have it injected into their bloodstream, the technique would activate all the same.

So they would be getting two fallen angels for the price of one. However, they had failed to account for one important factor: the silver-haired man had an unpredictable energy source called chakra.

"No… something's wrong…! Something's horribly wrong!" Valper, the usually calm and impeccable scientist, panicked as he tried to override the process.

"What is it?" The room began shaking much more, but Kokabiel did not need to get an answer from him. He saw it for himself, as he watched more of the black, crow-like wings sprout out of the man's back.

"Why… why does he have…" The chains rattled once more, before they snapped like rubber bands, unleashing a torrent of energy that washed through the room.

Like the coming of the anti-christ, the man ascended into the sky as though manipulated by the divine strings of gods. He was a man that made Lucifer seem like an uppity brat, and his very existence was the reason why the word 'malevolent' existed in the dictionary. His form shone with energy, his body healed itself of all scars and deformities, his silver-hair lengthened and flowed down to his back, and his essence contained the power of a Seraph. A wave of pressure hit the room like a gravitational force, Valper was the first to go, collapsing onto the ground like he had been stomped by an invisible giant, his bones cracking under the weight of the pressure and his mind plagued by bloody, horrific visions of his own death.

Raynare and Kalawarner did not fare any better, collapsing in sharply to the ground as the shockwave hit them, leaving them shivering wrecks unable to speak or think.

Kokabiel managed to withstand the overwhelming force, but his pride would never let it rest as he roared "How does he have _six sets of wings_!" The man, as he floated in the air, did so with _twelve wings_. It was common knowledge that the numbers of wings were an indicator of power, and if Kokabiel went with that assumption, it meant that the Fallen Angel he had created was severely more powerful than he.

"My name is HIDAN motherfuckers!" The man called Hidan burst into sick, twisted, and insane laughter. He flexed his arms and noted, with surprise and sick elation as a spear of light the size of a mini-van appeared over his palm and vanished with each flex.

"Ah… I think it's time the whole fucking world was re-introduced to the sweet ways of Jashin-sama. But first…"

He appeared over Kokabiel with nothing to even indicate that he had moved in the first place, before viciously slamming the man's face into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. Slowly, he whispered into his ear " _…Remember what I fucking promised I'd do to you once I got free_?"

Kokabiel realized he had not created a _Fallen_ Angel. He had created an _Angel of Death_.

* * *

 _~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~_

 **Kuoh Sewer System**

"Gah!" Issei let out an exhausted pant as he lay on the cold sewer floor, finally having killed every single last one of the sewer rats – totaling over two hundred of the creatures – as well as the boss with giant fangs that could shoot out powerful beams from its mouth. He could have sworn that the name of the boss had been 'Raticate'.

Irrespective of which, Issei felt that he had hit the ultimate jackpot in deciding to enter the sewers. He'd been grinding for almost three hours, but he'd been gaining massive boosts to his skills. It was like the entire area granted him more experience points for skills. With how fast his skills increased, he noted, with some sort of pleasure, that he had reached level 24.

And as for his skills?

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv. 87**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv. 71**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 43**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 61**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 45**

 **Tree Walking [Active] Lv. 55**

 **Marksmanship [Passive] Lv. 50**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 39**

 **Energy Manipulation [Active] Lv.34**

 **Devil's Sight [Active] Lv. 40**

Issei grinned despite being shirtless on the disgusting sewer floor. His Taijutsu was now excellent and no longer the sloppy, stiff movements he had possessed before. His Critical Strike consumed about 50% less MP, and also granted 350% extra damage. After hitting level 50 in the Sprint skill, what he did could no longer be considered sprinting as he moved fast enough to become nothing but a blur, and gained a 10% chance to instantly teleport to the location of his choice. His Sense Danger could now extend for miles to detect bloodlust and also predict incoming attacks so accurately it made him feel as though he was psychic. His aim and form with Marksmanship was much greater than when he started, being capable of shooting down a fly several kilometers away. Energy Manipulation was now acute enough for him to create new skills from scratch with nothing but his imagination.

Ultimately, he was enjoying every second of his decision to enter the sewers. Opening up his Stats, he noted that he had 140 stat points to spend, and he had also gained six perk points to use.

" _Hey ningen, isn't it time you stopped killing rats and head for the real reason you came down here?_ "

Issei blinked at Ddraig's voice, before concluding that the dragon was right. Admittedly, the dragon was both impressed and peeved that Issei didn't need his help to be able to defeat the rodents.

He hadn't used his Boosted Gear even once, to defeat over two hundred creatures. It was worthy of some begrudging respect.

"Alright, let me just select my perks first…"

 **Available Perks:**

 **Lord of the Gambit**

 **King of Jokers**

 **Embracer of Shadows**

 **Monarch of Eden**

 **Winchester's Descendant**

 **Seeker of Truth**

 **Herald of the Dragonborn**

"Geez, what's with these completely unoriginal perk names… but it's just as I expected."

" _What?_ "

"My available perks don't change at all until I select them, in which they will be re-shuffled. By holding out until I get more perk points, I might have missed out on some of new perks, but now, I get to have more perks in the long run."

Without preamble, Issei selected the **Lord of the Gambit** perk.

 **Lord of the Gambit:**

 **Ever heard of Gambit Roulette? Well, as the Lord of the Gambit you are the king of this game. You are unable to lose at gambling or any luck related activity and this perk adds 10% of the total sum of your stats to your luck while granting a 50% bonus in the success of all social interactions and luck related activity. You also gain a 5% permanent EXP boost to all quests and monsters completed or slayed.**

 **Requirements: Stats: 10 Luck, Titles: Gambit King, Achievement: Karma Demon.**

 **Costs 1 Perk Point.**

 **Are you sure you want to select this perk?**

 **[Y/N]**

He pushed the yes button.

 **You have gained the perk, Lord of the Gambit.**

 **You have Five Perk Points remaining.**

 _PING!_

 **Lord of The Gambit provides extra boost to Gutsy Pervert! You now have a 50% chance to perform a perverted action in every social interaction!**

"Well… that's good? I think… hmm, I gain stat boosts for every perverted action with the Gutsy Pervert perk, this should actually help me get stronger even faster!"

With that in mind, Issei selected his next perk.

 **Embracer of Shadows:**

 **Darkness is your calling, and the Shadows are your servants. With this perk, you gain a 25% increase to Dexterity and become near-invisible while concealed by shadows. Also, you automatically enter Stealth mode when equipping dark clothes. Your affinity for Dark Arts and Demonic Magic are increased by 75% and you also gain control over shadows limited only by your own imagination, but however, as a friend of darkness, you become an enemy of light. Light based attacks and weapons will deal extra 60% damage to you and remaining under direct sunlight for an extended period of time will grant a -15% penalty to all stats.**

 **Requirements:- Title: Dark Poet, Alignment: Neutral. Stats: 30 INT, Achievement: Sound of Solitude.**

 **Costs 3 Perk Points.**

"What the hell? Three perk points!" Issei grumbled as he realized that despite the costs, this perk was extremely, _extremely_ useful, especially since he was on his way to infiltrate a building containing gods. His stealth would be off the charts with this, but at the same time, he wasn't too sure if he would risk the downsides of being unable to stay under direct sunlight for too long. It would make him more or less a vampire or devil.

The Gamer sighed and closed the perk before scrolling to the next one.

 **Monarch of Eden:**

 **You are the ruler of the land of paradise, and as such you are entitled to the benefits of a king. You gain the ability to communicate and understand every animal in existence. This also grants you the benefits of becoming extremely diplomatic, giving you +30 Charisma once every level. Furthermore, you gain a 45% boost to all Reputation and Prestige gains with Supernatural beings. However, on the downside, you will always be able to hear what animals are saying and thinking, from the tiniest ant to the largest whale, and as such, the constant voices only you can hear just might drive you insane.**

 **Requirements:- Title: The Hunter. Alignment: Good or Neutral. Stats: 50 Charisma. Achievement: The Whisperer.**

 **Costs 2 Perk Points.**

 **You do not meet the requirements to gain this perk.**

Issei sighed "I don't have the title, the charisma or the achievements to learn this perk." He pushed the blue notification away as he scrolled down.

 **Winchester's Descendant:**

 **The blood of Winchester flows through your veins and grants you knowledge on how to deal with creatures of the realm beyond. You gain knowledge on how to Exorcise: Demons, Poltergeists, Devils and how to Banish: Lost Souls, Angels, Ghouls, Fairies and Gods. This perk grants 55% extra damage when facing any supernatural creature of any kind, provides a 45% chance to entrance any female supernatural creature and grants 75% boost to efficiency of all exorcism weapons and materials.**

 **Requirements:- Race: Human. Achievements: Uplifting the Fallen.**

 **Notes: Should you lose your humanity and change your race, you will forfeit this perk.**

 **Costs 2 Perk Points.**

"This is epic…" Issei shook his head in disbelief. The perks he had seen provided insane boosts to a lot of things, but he knew that if his stats were weak, the boosts provided by all his perks would have next to no effect in the long run. Still, it was almost like the game wanted him to get stronger. Though he had already made up his mind on what perks to choose, he decided, just so to be thorough, to glance at the final two perks.

 **Seeker of Truth:**

 **Hyoudou Issei! You are the true seek-**

Issei sharply closed the perk. As stupid as it sounded, there was no way he was choosing any perk with such a corny start up line.

 **Herald of the Dragonborn:**

 **?**

 **Requirements: ?**

Issei scowled "What the hell?" The Perk was obscured by nothing but question marks. "Is this a glitch?" he sighed as he attempted to select it, but got nothing in return. Sighing, The Gamer closed the glitched perk and made up his mind on what perks to select.

 **You have selected the Perk – Embracer of Shadows.**

 **Are you sure you want to select this perk?**

 **[Y/N]**

He pushed the yes button.

 **You have gained the perk, Embracer of Shadows.**

 **You have Two Perk Points remaining.**

Issei felt himself suddenly become lighter on his feet, as well as feeling highly comfortable in the darkness. His Devil's Sight cleared up and his vision sharpened and made it feel as though the sun was shining in the sewers whereas he knew quite well that the sewers were completely dark.

 _PING!_

 **Through the aid of a perk, you have unlocked and boosted a skill to make you harder to find and increased your ability to sneak about! You have learned Stealth [Passive] Lv. 10!**

 **Effects: Reduces your chances to be detected while sneaking about by 10% every ten levels.**

"These new skills are really getting overwhelming…" Issei grumbled silently as he closed the notification.

 **You have selected the Perk – Winchester's Descendant**

 **This will use up all your perk points.**

 **Are you sure you want to select this perk?**

 **[Y/N]**

Once more, The Gamer pushed the yes button.

 **You have gained the perk, Winchester's Descendant.**

 **You have 0 Perk Points remaining.**

Issei paused as he felt more knowledge cram into his brain faster than he was able to accumulate them, it took him several seconds of harshly clenching his palm against his head before he was finally able to understand it all.

"Gah… it's not as bad as when I choose the Mr. Renaissance perk, but it still hurts."

" _Now would you mind heading for the thing that made you come down here in the first place?_ "

"This is the second time you've asked me that. Is something wrong?"

" _I can't place my finger on it, but this entire place gives me an odd feeling of foreboding. I can sense divine energy everywhere, and yet I can sense it nowhere. It would be best if you left here as quickly as possible."_

"Well that's never a good sign. I was planning on allocating my stat points... but I guess I can do that later. But there is something I need to do first." An idea had popped into his mind thanks to his newest perk and he realized that instead of constantly having to open up his Inventory whenever he needed his weapons, there would be an easier way to access his tools. Looking at his Inventory, Issei selected an option.

 **Would you like to designate item – Exorcist Gun to a Quick Slot?**

 **[Y/N]**

Issei pushed the yes button and noted the second option that came up.

 **Exorcist Gun has been designated to Quick Slot 1. To equip and un-equip, on your right hand, snap your fingers using your thumb and index finger.**

"Awesome!" Issei grinned as he snapped the fingers on his right hand and instantly, the Exorcist Gun appeared in the palm of his hand.

 **Would you like to designate item – Exorcist Sword to a Quick Slot?**

 **[Y/N]**

 **Exorcist Sword has been designated to Quick Slot 2. To equip and un-equip, on your right hand, snap your fingers using your thumb and middle finger.**

Issei beamed "Alright! Time to get ready!"

 **Would you like to designate item – Kitchen Knives to a Quick Slot?**

 **Would you like to designate item – Stink Gas Bomb to a Quick Slot?**

 **Would you like to designate item – Chloroform to a Quick Slot?**

 **Would you like to designate item – Hydrogen Peroxide to a Quick Slot?**

Satisfied at his work, Issei noted how the Quick Slots were linked to his fingers, going from the first finger, being the index finger, to the last one, being the pinky.

He got off from the floor, and ignored his state of dress as he realized that it was about time he got his quest over with.

"Map" he muttered to himself as he traced out the marker he had previously placed, to ensure that he wouldn't get lost while in the sewers. Once he had ensured he was ready, he activated Sprint and dashed down the sewer system like a bat out of hell, ensuring to follow the location that would lead him directly underneath the buildings.

" _You know, if not for that diversion, this could actually be a rather decent plan._ "

"What, finally run out of sarcastic quips?"

" _Exchanging witty banter is amusing, but overdoing it will be needlessly antagonistic."_

Issei shook his head "Why are you so sarcastic anyway?"

" _I have been sealed inside a Sacred Gear for years and years. For the first several years, I was defiant and angry, pissed at the world. It didn't get me far and my hosts died one after the other. After that I was slightly bitter and resentful, but still willing to help. The effect was the same._ "

Issei continued to search on as he listened to the powerful dragon _"Finally, my only form of amusement lied in my hosts, and then, I was willing and eager to help, but then they took me for granted, lost my respect. And ultimately they died all the same._ "

" _So I reasoned, of what use is there to grow accustomed to my hosts, if, after a period of time they will die, and a new one will arrive to take their place?_ "

The black-haired teen made a left turn as he pondered his words "So the real reason you're so sarcastic is because…"

" _Continue that train of thought and you will receive pain beyond your realm of imagination ningen._ "

Issei scoffed as he made a right turn while sprinting "You can't really do much when sealed you know."

" _I'll send you the mental image of nude, old transvestite men._ "

"Nononono, I'll be good! Issei is a good boy!" the teen stammered out sharply as he found a linking hole in a wall that led out of the sewers and into the tunnels. The tunnels were rather constrained, much more so than the sewers, and they looked as though even the slightest of disturbances would set everything collapsing.

Issei could feel the Welsh Dragon actually smiling " _Now that's more like it. Come on, adventure awaits. I feel as though nothing can stop us now._ "

"You shouldn't have said that." Issei sighed as he noticed the tunnel began shaking rapidly.

" _What?_ " Ddraig inquisitively asked.

"Didn't you learn your lesson from the issue with the rodents? Whenever someone says something like that, it's as though you're tempting fate or karma to just prove you wrong." The vibration got stronger as the sound of heavy thuds of footsteps approached the teen.

" _Listen ningen, I've lived for a rather long time and met several powerful beasts and divine creatures in existence. Not once, have I met a being called Fate._ "

"Well I think she's about to meet us."

 _TING!_

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

Issei made a liberal use of Dodge not a second too late, rolling to the side and managing to evade certain death as a giant earthen fist smashed into the ground where he was not a second too late. He stared at the creature, which had neither eyes nor face, but rather was made up entirely of rocks.

"Observe."

 **Guardian Rock Golem Lv. 75**

 **Race: Golem**

 **Alignment: N/A**

 **HP: 7500/7500**

 **MP: 4700/4700**

 **Current Status Effects: Enhanced Physical Resistance. Enhanced Elemental Resistance. Enhanced Magical Resistance. Immunity to Fire-Element.**

 **Bio: An earthen construct brought to life by magic. It is immune to several status effects and has a rather high defense, but in exchange is rather slow and has a predictable attack pattern.**

" _A guardian golem, most likely enchanted or created by one of the gods in the building. It's nothing you shouldn't be able to handle._ "

Issei swore in annoyance "Except for the fact that I'm fighting in a highly restricted area that completely kills my maneuverability, and I don't have the firepower needed to take that thing down without bringing the entire tunnel collapsing on my head."

" _Interesting._ " Issei dodged an overhead strike with a double backflip as he cursed when he noticed the tunnel slowly giving way.

"Whatever it is that's amusing you, I hope it has something to do with finding a way out of this problem!" Issei snapped his fingers, the Exorcist Sword appearing within his hands as he Sprinted forward at max speed, blurring away faster than ever before.

" _Well, I'm just noticing how more level-headed you seem in tackling the problem. You're not relying on Chaos for any boosts this time around, so it's all you in this fight."_

"Thanks for the wonderful observation." Issei slashed at the Golem with a spinning overhead strike targeted at its knees, almost cursing when he noticed it do only - **35HP** damage. The Golem didn't have eyes, and most likely relied on Issei's connection with the Earth to find him in the darkness. It was also probably why Issei's stealth was almost useless against the beast. He was tempted to use his newly gained Shadow control abilities, but he highly doubted that he would get lucky enough for them to be useful on his first ever attempt at using it.

" _You know, this would end a lot quicker if you simply used the Boosted Gear and destroyed the Golem._ " Ddraig supplied.

Issei cartwheeled under the Golem's strike with the aid of Dodge, slowly retreating backwards as he brought the glowing holy blade to his front in a defensive position. "And then what? Grow dependent on the sacred gear? I'm already a hax damn it, simply boosting my way through each and every fight would just make me more of a cheater, I'll never grow strong on my own that way."

Ddraig paused as he contemplated the teens words. It was stupid honestly, there existed beings so much stronger than the boy that even with the power of the Boosted Gear, he would be unable to beat them. Yet, for the boy to actually insist on fighting opponents with his own strength, even noticing the difference in levels, and the fact that he could easily beat them with the Boosted Gear, made quite a difference to Ddraig. At that moment, a slightly large amount of respect had been earned for Hyoudou Issei. Then again, Ddraig reasoned that it was only a matter of time before the boy realized just how far out of depth he was. " _Well then, let's see how you fare._ "

Issei said nothing as he Dodged another one of the Golem's slow punches by rolling on the floor, and dashed forward with the aid of Sprint, his Dexterity stat making him moving fast enough for his body to become slightly blurry, he appeared in front of the creature and began slashing away madly at its knee, his hands becoming a blur of motion as more and more chunks of the creatures leg cut off and fell to the earth. The **-35HP** notifications obscured his vision as his hands moved faster and faster, slashing away like a man possessed.

The Golem brought up both hands and forced them down in an axe-strike that Issei couldn't dodge in time, forcing the dark-haired teen to guard himself with the exorcist sword. Rock met… steel? In a contest of wills, the Gamer gritting his teeth in annoyance as the impact sent a shockwave throughout the tunnel that hastened its oncoming collapse, as well as generating several spider-web cracks around Issei's feet from the force of the impact. Just as Issei began to push the Golem back, the unexpected occurred.

 _SNAP!_

"Well shit."

The exorcist sword broke under the sheer pressure of the attack and the Golem's fist connected with Issei's face, sending the teen rolling on the ground forcefully. Issei was seriously regretting not allocating his stat points before entering this battle.

- **330 HP!**

 **HP: 570/900**

" _Oi gaki, are you sure you shouldn't use my power now?_ "

"I told you, I'll do this on my own!" Issei spat as he noticed the broken pieces of the exorcist sword. He picked them up and stored them in his inventory, before snapping his fingers once more, noting with slight exhilaration as two kitchen knives appeared in both hands, making four in total.

" _That Golem broke an Exorcist's sword in half, and now you want to fight it with ordinary kitchen knives?"_

"Just watch and learn." Issei calmly took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he activated his Energy Manipulation, his kitchen knives glowing sharply with demonic energy, making them glisten with razor sharpness.

 **Ambidextrous Dual-Wielding! Attack Speed has been increased by 50%!**

"Now…" Issei opened his eyes, now sparkling with Demonic Energy "Let's get dangerous!"

The golem attempted a fast straight hook at Issei, however, the teen simply vanished from sight. The golem turned and searched for the teen, only for a slash on its left hand to appear for its effort. Turning again, another slash appeared on its right knee. Then another on its right hand. Three more appeared on its left knee, leaving the creature stumbling in confusion. Instantly, several slashes began appearing on the Golem, going deeper and creating much more damage than before. The golem danced around in a hailstorm of invisible slashes, each one appearing randomly at intervals, tearing up is rocky body piece by piece as Issei noticed it wearing down. Finally, the Golem's knees were destroyed, completely eliminating its movement and leaving it as nothing more than a sitting duck to be killed.

 **Guardian Rock Golem Lv. 75**

 **HP: 3463/7500**

 **MP: 451/4700**

 **Current Status Effects: Immobilized**

" _How… did you get that much faster?_ " Ddraig _was_ impressed, there was no hiding it.

"The Ambidextrous perk grants a fifty-percent increase in attack speed whenever dual-wielding any weapons and Embrace of Shadows boosts my Dexterity by twenty-five percent when fighting in darkness. All I needed was to use Sprint to get myself even faster and for physics to do the rest: the faster I move, the more strength and force I have behind my strikes."

" _Such unbelievable power... Your Exodus Switch is possibly the fastest shortcut to power I have ever seen_ _._ " Issei shrugged at the dragon's words as he got ready to continue the battle.

The dark-haired teen re-appeared in front of the golem in a rapid blur, gazing it down as he enclosed his body and prepared himself to deliver the final blow. He charged forward with Sprint, and had Observe active as he predicted the angle of depression of the Golem's strike. The sentinel missed and struck the earth, leaving Issei the opportunity to race up the hand of the golem, his demonic blade dug into its body as he uttered a victorious war cry.

He turned the blades in his hands in a reversed grip so that he was holding the metal parts that dug into his flesh, but he ignored it as he brought down the blunt pommel of the knives down in a twin over-head, Critical Strike.

 **Critical Hit!**

The Golem tumbled over; a large crack now present on its head, as it collapsed and hit the ground in a dead faint. However, Issei could tell that it wasn't totally down yet.

 **Guardian Rock Golem Lv. 75**

 **HP: 934/7500**

 **MP: 451/4700**

 **Current Status Effects: Immobilized**

Just as Issei was about to deliver the final blow, he swore when he realized that his Kitchen Knives had lost their demonic shine.

 **Demonic Magic: 0/510**

At the same time, Issei's Devil's Sight wore off, leaving him wading in darkness. He then remembered that Devil's Sight, though being a non-combat skill, didn't use Mana but rather it used Demonic Magic. The Mr. Renaissance perk removing MP costs of skills applied to only skills that used Mana and nothing else. So all the while, Issei realized that he had been draining his Demonic Magic slowly without even realizing it. What was his regeneration rate?

 **MP Regen: 100 MP per minute.**

 **LM/DM Regen: 53 LM/DM per minute.**

 **Chakra Regen: 11 CP per minute.**

" _Ningen! The tunnel is collapsing!_ " Issei glanced and squinted, confirmed truly that the tunnel system was collapsing, but it looked like it took more than just his fight to have brought everything down.. He placed his knives back in his inventory with a snap of his fingers and Sprinted as fast as he could, dodging falling rocks and debris. It only took him a matter of seconds to find a large golden door in which would provide him with the safety he desired as well as with his goal.

"Yes! Alright! Open you damn door!" Issei grabbed onto the door handle and realized that it was sealed shut, and he seemingly couldn't push it open.

 **Strength Check Required!**

' _Damn it! I haven't allocated my points yet! Please not now!_ '

 **Required Strength Multiplier - 70**

 **Total Strength Multiplier – 21**

 **Check Failed!**

"Shit!" Issei cursed, even if he allocated all his points to his strength, there was no way it would be able to get to the required multiplier.

"I'm not always going to there as your Deus Ex Machina, Hyoudou. Try not to make it a habit."

Issei froze as he noted how time seemed to have paused still, and the falling debris levitated in the air. He jumped at the sudden voice, turning around to spot a familiar blond haired man, crouching upside down on the ceiling and staring at him passively, his eyes glowing with power, making it quite clear that it was his doing that was making the debris float in the air.

"Well, considering how it's game over, you won't have a chance to turn it into a habit."

The words sounded foreign to Issei "What are you talking abo-"

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Academic Performance Rating has dropped to 0!**

 **You have been expelled from Kuoh Academy.**

 **You have failed a butterfly quest.**

 **You have failed a butterfly quest.**

 **You have failed a side quest.**

 **You have failed a main quest.**

Shocked silence would be the adequate term to describe Issei's facial expressions as his face twisted into one of utmost bewilderment. Turning, he witnessed a wall of all-consuming holy energy, instantly disintegrating anything it touched, approaching him at a rapid pace.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, and the next thing he saw was a flash of yellow.

* * *

 **~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

By the time the Hyoudou came to, he froze as he found himself inside a smoky crater, he coughed several times, and glanced around. It was almost as though he was in a battle-field of some sort, as all around him, there was nothing but craters, broken and destroyed buildings, cars abandoned on the roadside, battle tanks and crashed helicopters littering the roads and was something straight out of an apocalyptic movie. However, most of it looked recent.

Issei turned to glance at the blond man beside him who seemed to be looking at it all impassively. "Where am I?"

"Welcome to beautiful, post-apocalyptic Kuoh! Or more specifically, where you are now is what is left of Kuoh Academy." The blond gestured around.

Issei's blood ran cold, he broke out into cold sweat, as he recognized the scorched remains of the hill where he used to lay with his perverted friends, but shook his head in disbelief.

Or perhaps it was denial. He was no longer sure.

Slowly and tentatively he opened his suddenly dry lips to ask "What are you talking about?"

"The Ragnarok, the Rapture, the End-Times, the 2012 Phenomenon. Whatever you want to call it, This is it, the End of the World."

The blond man was slowly beginning to grate on the Hyoudou's nerves, he leaped up from the ashen earth and yelled at the top of his voice "What are you talking about? Everything was fine _this morning_!"

Naruto paused and glanced at the Gamer through the corner of his eye. "Just how long do you think you were inside the sewers?"

Issei didn't miss a beat as he answered "About three hours tops, there was no way all this could have happened in that time!"

Without preamble, Naruto chuckled. "Of course you would think that." The blond man flicked the teen's forehead and the boy was sent skidding across the ground before he came to a stop. "Geez kid, did you fancy yourself the first person to attempt to sneak into the Midas Complex through the sewers? Come on! The only reason such an obvious entry point would be allowed to exist and guarded by one pitifully weak golem, is because it is meant as a trap for anyone stupid enough to enter."

"A… trap?" Issei barely managed to croak out in shock.

He stared at him with his purple concentric eyes that showed sarcastic mirth. "Yes. A trap specifically designed to make intruders lose all sense of time the second they enter."

Issei suddenly realized, with no small amount of horror just why his skills had been leveling up so fast in the sewers, as well as what the warning had meant.

"You weren't gone for three hours."

The blond man only confirmed his worst fears as he glanced all around him, and found himself in a wasteland of ash and dust.

"You were gone for _thirty days._ "

 _~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~_

* * *

 **Issei's Current Stats:**

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 24 [57.94%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 900/900**

 **MP: 1000/1000 [Chakra: 525/525] [LM/DM: 510/510]**

 **Strength: 22**

 **Vitality: 45**

 **Dexterity: 59**

 **Intelligence: 40(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 27 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 12 (+1)(+3)(+21.6)**

 **Charisma: 11 (-1)(+1)(+1.5)(+2)(+3)**

 **Statuses:- Gamer's Mind [Immunity from all psychological effects] Gamer's Body [Gives the ability to live life like a game.]**

 **Titles:-**

 **On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions]**

 **Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char, boost to social actions when active].**

 **Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter]**

 **True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char, boost to crafting actions when active]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char]**

 **Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Charisma, grants boost to poetic actions when active]**

 **Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Patron of the Arts [+2 Int, +2 Wis, boost to all actions when active.],**

 **Reluctant Gentleman [+3 Char, +2 Wis, grants extra boost to social actions with women when active.]**

 **Active Titles: The Gamer [Grants 10% Chance of success in all actions], None.**

 **Points Available: 140**

 **Perk Points Available: None**

 **Perks: Mr. Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert, Ambidextrous, Lord of The Gambit, Embracer of Shadows, Winchester's Descendant.**

 **Money: 71,519 Yen**

 **Achievements: Karma Demon, Sound of Solitude, Renaissance Man, Two For The Price Of One, Perversion Potential, Perverted Sage, Uplifting The Fallen, Will Of Fire.**

 **Skills :-**

 **Combat Skills :-**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv. 71**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv. 87**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 43**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 39 [4.18%]**

 **Marksmanship [Passive] Lv. 50**

 **Energy Manipulation [Active] Lv.34**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 1 [0.41%]**

 **Exploration Skills :-**

 **Art Mastery [Passive] Lv. 3 [0.89%]**

 **Angel Vision [Active] Lv. 1 [0.92%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Dance Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [3.04%]**

 **Devil's Sight [Active] Lv. 40 [79.10%]**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Kami's Fingers [Active] Lv. 2 [9.46%]**

 **Larceny [Active] Lv. 1 [98.07%]**

 **Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 21 [34.09%]**

 **Musical Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [1.21%]**

 **Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 19 [23.10%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 12 [31.40%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 45 [93.14%]**

 **Science Mastery [Passive] Lv. 2 [15.07%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 61 [60.29%]**

 **Stealth [Passive] Lv. 10 [39.12%]**

 **Tree Walking [Active] Lv. 55 [40.02%]**

 **Social Skills :-**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Fallacy [Active] Lv. 1 [21.04%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 1 [2.91%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [81.07%]**

 **Special Abilities :-**

 **Forbidden Skills:-**

 **Hallowed Eclipse [Active] Lv. 1 [0.02%]**

 **Revive [Active] Lv. 1 [0.01%]**

 **Sacred Gears:-**

 **Boosted Gear [Active] Lv. 1 [3.14%]**

 **Equipment :-**

 **Basic Kuoh Academy Uniform [+10 Defense]**

 **Allies:-**

 **Sitri Sona: [500/1000] Liked**

 **Toujou Koneko: [250/1000] Liked**

 **Yura Tsubasa: [300/1000] Honored**

 **Reputation:-**

 **Kuoh Academy: [355/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Residence: [500/1000] Liked**

 **Kendo Club: [455/1000] Disliked**

 **Student Council: [555/1000] Liked**

 **Occult Research Club: [666/1000] Liked**

 **Devil Faction: [999/1000] Neutral**

 **Fallen Angel Faction: [400/1000] Neutral**

 **Holy/Angel Faction: [300/1000] Disliked**

 **Yokai Faction: [499/1000] Disliked**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a lonely, neglected boy whose goal was originally to become a Harem King. Upon discovering his ability as the Gamer, and activating the Boosted Gear as he stumbled into the chaos of the supernatural world, he now has a new purpose, though he still pitifully wants to be a Harem King. Lost and confused as he is, Issei finds the man known as Uzumaki Naruto, who seemingly has all the answers. Who is the mysterious blond? And how is he connected to everything?**

~~~~ **Dragon of Dragons - Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~**

* * *

 **A/N: Next Chapter is what you might consider, an 'explanation' chapter, as finally, Naruto's true role is explained and finally the true nature of the 'Exodus Switch' is revealed. Though, I'm certain the more savvy of my readers will instantly understand where I'm going with this.**

 **Send me your complaints, questions or concerns, as I am still but a rookie in the art of fan-fiction, and it would be nice if someone pointed out any plot-holes that I may or may not have missed.**

 **Kindly Read and Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	9. Secrets of the Game

**A/N: And this chapter is finally out. Woo! I have almost hit five hundred reviews for this fic and I have over 800+ Follows and 700+ Favorites! This might not seem much to most, but for someone who's only been writing fan fiction for less than six months, its a hell of an accomplishment! Thank you guys so much for your wonderful, inspirational, and excellently motivating reviews!**

 **Now, I have said this before, and I'll probably say it again, but I am still a mere rookie writer. This might sound weird, but honestly, when I started this, I had absolutely no plot or goal in mind, and was pretty much writing whatever came to my mind at the time. As well as listening a little _too_ much to what my reviewers wanted. But now that I realize how things are, I'm going to go on from here out with my ideas, my plot and my story. **

**I probably said earlier that if after this chapter and you still don't like the way this fic is going, then kindly stop reading. I'm taking that back. If you don't like it, _keep reading_ because honestly, the more you point out errors and what-not, the better a writer you help me become.**

 **Now for the good and bad news. The bad news is that exams are around the corner, so after this, there will be no update till May. The good news is that once my exams are over, summer will roll around and I'll finally have enough time for my weekly updates (assuming work doesn't keep me busy).**

 **And now without further ado...**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons - Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 8:**

 **Secrets of the Game**

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **30 Days Ago…**

 **Kuoh Academy**

 **Guidance Counselor's Office**

The sweet smell of ramen wafted out through the open window, as though being manipulated, the odor did not permeate the room, but flowed outwards like serpent would dance to the melody of a swami.

His tie and shirt was slacked, revealing a glowing green pendant he had been able to regain and remake, which hung on his neck. His skin was covered with tattoos of seals which he utilized a slight Genjutsu to make invisible, and he had placed his fuinjutsu-laced, square-framed glasses on his desk, as he glanced at the comfortable office he had been assigned to. It was more of a Psychiatrist's office than that of a Guidance Counselor. A nice, long laid back chair the length of a bed was placed beside a smaller couch, there were bookshelves lined with books, somewhat dimmed lights and a comfortable rugged floor.

The young man within hummed a jaunty tune to himself, slowly but certainly eating out of a cup of instant-ramen. Today, he'd start with his goal in the academy. He'd infiltrate it, gather familiarity with the devils within as well as with the Gamer, and proceed to The Plan. Yes, the plan. At the rate things were going, almost nothing would be able to stop the plan.

 _BOOM!_

A large explosion could be heard in the distance, followed by an overwhelming large pillar of smoke that followed it. The blond haired figure in the room perked his ears as he realized that it most likely came from Kuoh General Hospital. Not that it mattered to him. He did know however, that it would draw the attention of the devils in the school. The last time around, it was a Supermarket that had gotten blown up, and it had been explained away as a gas leak. The possibility of another gas leak in just the next day was ludicrous. If it killed any civilians, things would rapidly heat up in Kuoh.

As though foretelling the events of the future, the man, noted with interest, that the clouds in the skies above had thickened and darkened whereas they were previously still several seconds ago.

"Eleven hours and fifty-nine minutes." The figure muttered with a strand of noodles on the side of his chin. "Hmm… that's almost a new record. It still can't beat the shortest time of thirty-eight minutes and forty-one seconds…" the figure paused as it licked off the stray ramen.

"Oh yeah, that was on the Legendary Difficulty setting. Eleven hours on hard difficulty isn't so bad after all. It could be better though… it could be much better."

The figure crumpled the now empty plastic bowl and tossed it into the trash can without a second thought.

"Alright, time to get ready for the apocalypse. _Again_." The blond sighed, before straightening up.

"Ah well, the whole thing was getting too dramatic anyway. I missed the moments when every second contained panty-shots and humor." The blond stretched his arms as he noted the school speaker systems echo wildly.

"Hmm… but to start all over again, _again_ would be really annoying." The man contemplated silently before craning his neck.

"I suppose it was bound to happen sometime." He rambled onwards as he paced in his office, noting how the winds had violently picked up outside and lightning began flashing in the sky.

Uzumaki Naruto sported a wild grin as he grabbed the megaphone he'd been allocated to in his office, realizing that he would be guidance counselor for less than a day, he spoke into the speaker system.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Kuoh Academy, this is your new and soon to be ex-Guidance Counselor Uzumaki Naruto speaking."

The earth began rumbling madly, and two giant pillars of light could be seen shooting off into the distance.

"I regret to inform you that the world is ending. This revelation can be rather stressful and life-changing. And as much as I would like to console you all by telling you that you'll all is going to a better place…"

The pillars seemed to freeze in time and pause.

"That would be a complete and total lie."

No sooner had he spoke those words that he vanished in a flash of yellow, and all of Kuoh was enveloped in white.

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

* * *

 **Present Day**

 **Kuoh Town – Crater**

"I've been gone for… thirty days." Issei stared vacuously at the environment around him, his eyes having lost all form of color, looking more like hollow orbs than eyeballs as the information played in his mind over and over again.

 **Achievement Unlocked: Apocalyptic Survivor.**

Thirty Days.

He had been killing rodents for Thirty Days.

He had been in a sewer, killing rats, while everyone he had ever known had died, possibly wondering where he had vanished to.

" _Everyone is dead… Mom, Dad, Tsubasa, Koneko… even those dunderheads I used to peep with… they're all gone…"_ Issei wanted to do nothing more than to crawl up into a hole and die.

' _Ningen! You need to calm do-_ '

 **Communication with Sentient Life in Sacred Gear has been disabled.**

 **Error! Gamer's Mind already Maxed!**

 **Error! Gamer's Mind already Maxed!**

 **Erro-**

 _SLAP!_

 **-223 HP!**

"Snap out of it you dolt!"

Issei blinked as he found himself suddenly seeing stars as a side-effect from the resounding slap he had received.

"Going insane now would be a waste of time. Now calm down, take a deep breath and then we can begin."

Issei inhaled, his slender chest expanding as he took in a large breath of air, before he exhaled slowly.

Gamer's Mind activated.

A certain comfortable calm lulled Issei, his despair faded and his mind sharpened. Rather than thinking about how everyone had died, he resolved himself to find out the origin of this lapse of time as well as figure out a way to solve his predicament. "Thanks." Issei stated slowly.

The blond nodded, unsealed a cup of ramen on his person, which was always somehow steaming hot, and began to dig in with chopsticks. "Well we've reached the point in which this story will start getting real crazy real fast unless some explaining is done. So, got anything on your mind you wanna ask?"

The Gamer wondered for one, why the Response List option always stopped functioning whenever he was communicating with the Uzumaki. It wasn't a priority, but more of an abstract thought, and he decided perhaps it was because Naruto could see his Game system and could counter any response he attempted to select.

Drawing his attention back to the main Issue, Issei inquired "How in the world was I trapped in a sewer that seemingly manipulated time?" he began using Observe on Naruto and his surroundings.

 **Uzumaki Naruto Lv. ?**

 **Race: ?**

 **HP: ?**

 **MP: ?**

 **CK: ?**

 **Current Status Effects: Abyss.**

 **Bio: ?**

Issei was surprised that he could see the man's status effects, but he could not read the information about the status. More importantly, he could have sworn, that the man's form was becoming more translucent by the second.

The blond man stood calmly, a far cry from his usual enigmatic behavior as he simply raised his chopstick hand into the air and muttered out "Illusion Barrier." The world around them shifted, and Issei found himself marveling as the apocalyptic wasteland was turned into a vast, luscious flower-field with a beautiful glowing sun. He inhaled the air and could swear that even the scent of the flowers were real.

"Certain beings are capable of manipulating time and space over a certain area and ultimately creating an alternate dimension in those areas. This is called an Illusion Barrier, and it can appear to be as vivid as the real thing even though it's actually fake." Naruto snapped his fingers and the sky seemed to crack and shatter as the illusion dispersed and world returned to it's grim, dark state.

"The area you happened to enter was an Illusion Barrier or your game would possibly call it an 'Instant Dungeon' twigged to manipulate the time around it to make an hour equal to ten days. Had you stayed there for twenty-four hours, you would have actually been gone for two hundred and forty days. It's an entirely different dimension, and as such, you wouldn't even feel hungry as in your perspective, much time had not passed."

Issei could feel his brain steaming up from the thinking he was doing "None of this makes any sense. How did the world end in just thirty-days?" Issei spun and pointed at him "And why did you suddenly decide to help me out? Why didn't you do that earlier? Why didn't you stop the apocalypse?"

The blond simply slurped a stray noodle from his chin. "Because I can't."

The man's grin was infuriating "What do you mean you can't? You seem powerful enough to do anything! Yet, the world has ended and you're laughing it up like some idiot!"

A thought sprung up in Issei's head "Did you create the Exodus Switch? Are you the one that's making all this happen?"

The blond actually _stopped_ eating to give Issei a cold stare, and now Issei knew that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him and the blond was indeed becoming somewhat translucent "No. I didn't create it nor did I have a hand in programming it. The creator, was by the way, an asshole with a god-complex the size of Asia and created the ultimate self-sufficient Sacred Gear."

"Come again?"

"Ever watched the movie iRobot?"

"Er… no?"

"Hmm… how bout Transcendence, ever watched that one?"

Issei shook his head once more "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Seriously kid, you really need to watch more TV. The point I'm trying to make is that The Exodus Switch works autonomously. It has been programmed to learn and to grow with the wielder as well as with the world. It can access internet databases and even access historical records to come up with skills, perks and abilities as well as to keep on improving itself and to keep on evolving. As such, there was only ever one 'Programmer' and there is no 'Game Master'."

"Are there cheat codes?"

"Last I checked... no. However, there are a near infinite number of loopholes you can exploit."

"Loopholes huh…" Issei's took in a deep breath and his mind sharply focused on his tasks "Well, I failed your quest so what happens now?"

"Now it's time for you to finally know the truth."

"So what was with the whole 'get to level thirty' request for if you'd still tell me anyway?"

"Actually, I never planned on telling you anything even if you had reached level thirty. I would have just given you some skill books or something."

"What?" Issei's right eye twitched rapidly.

"Do you want me to explain what's going on or not?"

Issei grumbled silently but said nothing, allowing the blond man to begin his tale.

"I'll have to start with the features of the Exodus Switch." Naruto took slurped the final contents of his can and tossed it aside "The Exodus Switch is the most powerful Sacred Gear in the world. Not because it makes the wielder strong, but rather, because of how it makes _everyone else_ strong by default."

"What?" Issei interrupted and Naruto gave him a glare.

"As I was saying, the Exodus Switch utilizes the power of nature itself, fundamentally breaking down the rules of the world, it can create things were there were none, bring energy and life-forms into existence where they should _not_ exist."

Naruto _knew_ that several events and beings which existed in this world should not be here. _Alucard_ should not be here and the Vampire Faction would still be at civil-war, Artemis' hunters would never have been killed and as a result, the upcoming Divine War should not be happening. It was the Exodus Switch that had brought the Vampire into the world. And for several hundred years, it seemingly had no negative effects… until now. Naruto _knew_ that if Alucard did not exist, there would have been no incoming Divine War. He _knew_ that there wasn't supposed to be a Demon Faction and Fairy Faction. Yet, they existed, and as a result, the outcome was disastrous. He was the only person in the entire world who _knew_ that several things which should not exist in this realm or dimension did, and of course no one else believed him.

Well, no one except Issei.

"Now here's the issue, due to how powerful it is, there is a resonating side effect that the Exodus Switch possesses. The concept is simple, as the wielder of the Exodus Switch interacts with people, the left-over energy of the Sacred Gear would change the person interacted with."

Issei's blood ran cold "Change how?"

"Remember what happened when your blue-haired girlfriend died? She was technically dead, but her body didn't turn cold at all and I told you that she had become similar to a 'quest item'?"

The memory reconstructed in Issei's mind and he nodded slowly "Yes… but I thought that only happened after…"

Naruto gave him a sly grin "After you kissed her?" he hummed "Well, yes. Exchanging the taste of each other's tongues is just one of the ways the Exodus Switch can affect other people. But there are other ways which produce the several side-effects such as your companion becoming increasingly stronger simply by being around you, which is a good thing."

Issei let out a sigh of relief at the calming thought. Right up until Naruto added "But what about your enemies?"

The boy's eyebrows rose to the top of his head "You don't mean…"

The blond nodded "Yes, the Exodus Switch will make your enemies stronger, faster, viler, more twisted, and more evil. If the wielder of the Exodus Switch clashes with an opponent once, and the opponent lives, the Exodus Switch would manipulate time, fate, destiny, and the entire universe to ensure that your opponent gets stronger for the next encounter." For once, the blond haired man gazed at Issei with his eyes clearly lacking any mirth.

"It does not matter how seemingly impossible the task is, the Exodus Switch will do it. If the wielder fights someone and lets the person go with ill feelings, either a meteorite will crash land and give that individual increased abilities, they'd be abducted into a training or torture camp, in which they'd become stronger, and then the Exodus Switch _will_ ensure that they escape, and go back to the wielder to battle him once more."

Issei began doing swift calculations in his head. The people he had fought so far were Murayama, Freed Selzen and Dohnaseek. He had let them all go with ill feelings. Does that mean they'd increased in strength?

Naruto continued "Logic and reason are thrown out in favor for overwhelming power. Events which should not normally occur, such as a pacifist turning into a psychopath, or a psychopath turning into a pacifist _will_ happen in order to ensure that the opponents of the wielder would regain their strength to become stronger. And until they are finally defeated by the wielder, _the world will not let them die_."

Issei's breathing stopped.

"Even if I was to find the person, suck out his soul and cast it into the winds, somehow, someway, either Hades himself would bring the person back, or Death would reject his demise. There are only two exceptions: the first is if they are killed off by one of your companions or another enemy who has also been infected with the residue energy from the Exodus Switch. The second is to kill them with an attack or weapon utilizing Senjutsu or Natural Energy which can counteract the influence of the Exodus Switch."

Issei's breath calmly returned. At least it didn't mean that they were invincible. "So every single person I fight will come back stronger to face me?"

"Heavens no, I'm talking about the A-List and B-List characters only, people who actually have a name, a backstory and a role or something in the game. Who in the world would want to watch you fight a nameless mook over and over until you finally kill him?"

Still, Issei couldn't help but think about how that feature was the most frightening of all others the Exodus Switch possessed. Even if the person in question is hit by a bloody nuclear missile, it would appear as though they had an infinity symbol for their luck stat, and though they would be critically wounded or out of commission, they would only rise up later, _becoming stronger_ _than before_ and continue their quest to destroy the wielder.

"Now, there are only two ways to completely evade that fate. The first is to ensure, that without a doubt, that you, as Wielder of the Exodus Switch kill off your opponents for good."

Issei's face contorted into a blend of disgust and annoyance "I'm not sure I can just go around killing everyone I fight."

Naruto sighed "I thought as much. That leaves the second option."

"The second way is more pacifistic, but highly unreliable. It entails turning your enemies into your allies. Ensuring that they become your allies is the only other way to make sure that they would not go on a training trip in order to defeat you."

Issei groaned. That also seemed incredibly difficult.

As a side note, Naruto paused and added "It was probably why the previous wielder of the Exodus Switch was a peace-loving hippie who went about cloning bread and fish, walking on water and turning water to wine. That man had possessed no enemies, and whatever enemies he did possess, through his words and actions he had converted them with his sheer inhuman kindness and compassion, so that they had become his allies."

Issei blinked "You knew the previous wielder?"

Naruto nodded "He never had any worry whatsoever about the negative side-effect of the Exodus Switch, because he was a being of utter humility and compassion."

There was no need for it to be said, but it was clearly obvious that Hyoudou Issei, could _never_ be _that_ perfect.

"Ultimately, the more enemies you fight, and the more you spare them, the more enemies you line up for himself, waiting to stab you through the back. The Exodus Switch gives the ultimatum: if you cannot make your enemies your allies, kill them off totally, _or else_."

Naruto watched as Issei deliberated the information with a sense of silent contemplation and understanding. Clearly, it was a lot to take in, especially seeing as to how everything had seemed so easy and joyful before. Thankfully, Issei's variant of the Exodus Switch was a 'video-game' model, which should aid in restricting the psychological damage that killing a human being possessed, but ultimately, it was still murder. This was no longer the Shinobi Era in which even civilians rarely batted an eyelash when the talk of murder and death was mentioned, but a more modern age in which killing someone was an act of sheer barbarism and inhumanity.

However, if he could not make them his allies, he _had_ to kill them. Otherwise they would only undergo much more suffering and agony than they truly deserved. Ultimately, the Exodus Switch could be considered as the Gear that reflected only two possible attributes/play-styles: The Messiah or the Executioner.

It was why Naruto had, on more than one occasion, attempted to destroy the Exodus Switch or seal it somewhere where it would never see the light of day again.

He had never succeeded.

"But… that doesn't explain- _this!_ " Issei gestured all around him, emphasizing on the giant crater that was supposed to house Kuoh Academy.

"Oh, that's more or less your fault."

"I didn't do anything!" Issei sharply defended.

"Precisely, that's the reason. _You didn't do anything_. You of all people should know that inaction is the deadliest action of them all."

Issei's mouth opened, but no words could be formed. There was absolutely no denying the truth in that statement.

Naruto sighed "This is going to be one hell of a long recap." He shook his head and continued "Your actions led to this, though if I were to trace it all up, the point of origin would be the Chaos Mode that affected you in school."

"Just _how_ long have you been watching me?"

"Sixteen years." He responded without missing a beat. "Now let's see, the apocalypse started when Hidan and Murayama combined powers and nuked Kuoh with holy energy."

"Who is Hidan… and did you say Murayama?"

"Yes. The girl who you sent to the hospital, you know, when you broke her neck? Surely you haven't forgotten her?"

"One, I didn't mean to break her neck. Two, she tried to pin all the blame on me and was a total bitch about it."

"Was there anything stopping you, other than your limited attention span and time, from simply going up to her and healing her broken neck with your Kami's Fingers skill?"

Issei opened his mouth, and closed it again.

"As I said, inaction is the deadliest action of them all. Just so you know, she got sexually assaulted by Freed Selzen and was injected with a prototype serum that turns humans into fallen angels with a one in ten chance of survival. Of course you were busy killing rats at the time, so this is also not your fault."

"I…" Nothing could be said on his part. Never in his life had Issei felt like such scum. Today was just not his day.

"Why would that exorcist do that? Why?" Issei shook his head. The man seemingly went ahead attempting and trying to rape women just for the fun of it. Why did he do what he did? Was he just that evil a human being?

"He's Chaotic Evil. Does he truly need a reason?"

Issei shrugged "Not really…"

"Well…" Naruto glanced up as though recalling something "Murayama's father, Reiji Busujima was an exorcist before he renounced the church and returned to the life of teaching others kendo. But more importantly, I think he was once Selzen's mentor."

"…Murayama's father was Freed's teacher? How is that even possible?"

Naruto shrugged "Feel free to try and track him down if you want to learn more about Freed's origins to gain a perk and an entirely new skill list… but that's a side-quest that should be done as filler content or something."

"Filler content?"

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh as he palmed his face "Side-Quests, subplots, whatever you want to call it. The side activities that add up to your main goal! Come on it should be obvious!"

Naruto paused "Hmm… or maybe the ATP option was disabled again. You know what? Just forget it."

Issei simply stood and watched the man ramble on about the game options with a mix of uncertainty and confusion.

"Where was I?"

"I think you were talking about Murayama."

"Oh yeah! Well, she did survive, a little bit twisted… and seriously incomplete, but she survived and became a Fallen Angel. Hidan by the way, is a shinobi from my era who was fully resurrected as a Twelve-winged Fallen Angel with Asia Argento's Twilight Healing, at the cost of her life."

The name didn't ring any bells for Issei "Is she… someone I'm supposed to know?"

"Mhm… it's just sad to know that in every time you two never meet, she dies alone, simply for being born with a gift to help others."

"Every 'time'?" Issei did not like the sound of that.

"I'll get back to that, for now let's see… Once Hidan and Murayama nuked the town, they killed everyone within, every Human, every Fallen Angel and every Devil. And once Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory had died, things took a turn for the worse as Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan were enraged and sought to kill Hidan."

Issei remembered the names from the books he had read. They were two of the four Great Satans.

"Unfortunately, with Hidan's immortality and regeneration he gained from the Twilight Healing coupled with his shinobi skills and Light Magic, he was able to kill them both."

Issei found it hard to believe "How is that possible? Those two are said to be amongst the strongest beings in existence."

Naruto hummed "In sheer overwhelming power, they are far stronger than Hidan can ever be… but as I said earlier, power can't solve everything."

"Hidan has a forbidden technique that links him to his opponent as long as he has the slightest bit of their blood and ingests it. Once he became a Fallen Angel, the technique became stronger. They did not know about the ability and as such he linked himself to both of them at the same time and then cut off his own head. He survived… but they clearly did not."

Issei's mind randomly started going over the possible ways to defeat someone who was immortal and could survive having their head cut off. Honestly, the list was very slim.

"With the Lucifer dead, an uprising sharply went down in Hell, a civil war occurred that weakened the factions. With the Judeo-Christian faction weakened, the Greek Gods used the opportunity to strike."

Naruto exhaled "The combined might of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon eliminated the vampires, killed off Hidan and Murayama, sent Alucard into hiding and ceased heaven and made the Angels their servants. However, the other gods wouldn't let them become so powerful and then attacked, leading to a full-scale divine war that raged on for days. Right up until Zeus attempted to seek the power of the Great Red, and the Dragon of Apocalypse got pissed and erased nearly everything in existence off the face of the earth."

The blond smirked "Well, except me, who can stay alive no matter what and you, who were trapped in a time and space warping illusion barrier."

"All this… happened in just thirty days?" Issei sounded astonished.

Naruto shrugged "The world has two ways of testing your mettle. Either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once."

Issei glanced at the ashen earth, as he realized just how bad things were. "There is a way to go back right? To change things and ensure that none of this happens?"

Naruto grinned "Yes there is. But then, what would you do once you go back?"

Issei's eyes sharpened as he replayed everything he had heard in his mind and rapidly came to a conclusion "The root of the problem lay in two things: me not meeting this Asia person, and Murayama being in the hospital. If Asia is not captured and Murayama never becomes a fallen angel, then that guy you called Hidan won't have the juice to utterly nuke the city. Hidan doesn't nuke the city, Rias and Sona survive, and the apocalypse is averted."

"Good, you were listening. But do ensure that you have Tsubasa and Koneko with you, or allies of any sort. Despite how the game is made, you've decided your 'class' as more or less a 'Rogue' type character capable of taking on one opponent at a time. Attempting to face a large group of opponents on your own would be suicidal."

"How do you know all this?" Issei finally inquired with his voice finding the right mix between suspicion and curiosity "You seemingly have knowledge of the future, knowledge of events that happened or _should_ have happened, knowledge about my skills and abilities. How do you know all these things?"

It was as though time had frozen as soon as the question was asked. The blond man's eyes were shadowed by the bangs of his hair as he let out a mirthless chuckle.

"Do you really want to know the truth?"

"Of course I do!"

"Are you absolutely certain you want to find out? This knowledge will turn your world upside down, tear asunder your illusions and send the sanctuary of your own ignorance crashing down around you!"

"Stop with the suspense and tell me already!"

"The only reason I know so much about your Exodus Switch, is because…"

Time seemed to slow down as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. The heavy winds visited the vacant earth like a lost dog wandering a sullen graveyard. The boom of thunder that echoed almost drowned out the words, but Issei was still able to hear them clearly, even if he could not understand them.

"… _you_ told me."

The wind picked up in ferocity as Naruto smirked, but it was not the warm, playful smirk that he usually sported, nor was it like the mischievous ones he gave. His smirk was one of utter insanity and tiredness that rested clearly within his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Issei's voice cracked as he asked the question, ignoring the part of him that yelled deeply, saying that he was better off not knowing, that it would be better if he never found out the truth.

A flash of lightning illuminated the night sky, and the Uzumaki's form appeared like that of a ghost, as his glowing purple eyes sparkled with barely contained insanity. Slowly, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Issei, just how long do you think you've been playing this game?"

The boom of thunder echoed like a vicious hammer of the gods against a pedestal of contempt and chaos. The echo thundered and the verdict had been given with the earth had been doomed to an eternity of solitary confinement and with no one to give it life.

Issei's mind travelled to backwards, he fast-forwarded the moment in the past, brought it to the present and paused it, only for his skin to crawl slowly and for his eyes to widen in terror slowly like that of a man who had been told that his wife had died in childbirth.

Another flash of lightning engulfed the sky in white, the color of repentance and surrender, as though the earth had finally accepted it's destruction. The echoing boom of thunder followed, like the gunshot of an executioner striking down an innocent victim sentenced to death. And like the innocent victim, the pregnant clouds let out their feelings.

And the sky wept.

The heavy downpour of rain upon his body made no difference to the Hyoudou as he replayed the question over and over again. The question reminded Issei of how the man had sounded when he asked him how long he had been in the sewers. The implication was utterly damning.

Hyoudou Issei was a lot of things. He was a pervert. He was a confused and slowly changing individual with a slowly changing personality. He was someone who felt annoyingly burdened to have the weight of the world up on his shoulders. Amongst all these things however, Hyoudou Issei was not a fool. Fear and denial crept into him as he glanced at Naruto and shook his head ever so slowly. Not even the threat of apocalypse had been as damning as what he had just been brought to understand.

"No. It can't be." Issei shook his head slowly; the knowledge of what the man implied was exasperating, and downright maddening.

Another flash of lightning crept across the sky, illuminating the tired and mad eyes of the blond man as he stretched out his arms and laughed.

"You never stopped to wonder, at all, as to how you, a normal sixteen year old boy with no prior training could quickly adapt your mind to battles? Or perhaps, how easy it was for you to shift all your focus away from your perverted desires, which you had possessed for years?"

The melodious rhythm of heavy rain drops was the only thing keeping Issei sane "The Gamer's Mind-"

"Bullshit Issei!" The Gamer was stunned as to how ferocious the response was, Naruto's eyes had lost its mirth as he pointed at him with his index finger, sharply calling the boy out on his fallacious words.

"The Gamer's Mind only grants you immunity to psychological status effects. It doesn't hone your battle skills nor make you think up of excellent battle strategies on the fly. It can't make you abandon a way of life or thought process you had possessed for years simply because you decide to get stronger!" Naruto shook his head as he watched Issei's drenched form shiver in the rain, his eyes suddenly looking hollow.

"You want to claim your stats then? Also wrong. Your stats are far too weak, even with the boosted gear to be able to defeat or even _think_ of ways to defeat opponents that far out-rank you. Your 'armor' was nothing but a measly school uniform which can barely block even the weakest of attacks! Against a Golem that was Level 75, without your Boosted Gear, half-naked, _using kitchen knives_? You should be dead a hundred times over!"

The boom of thunder followed once more, the overarching sound that always came after the brilliant display of lightning only seemed to sink the blond man's words into Issei's head.

' _No. No. He's lying. He's bluffing. There has to be another reason…!_ ' Issei's dragged his hands across his face and shook his head in denial. The Gamer's Mind status worked rapidly and he could feel his mind scatter and came back together like as though someone had torn a bag full of scrabble pieces and then proceeded to create as many words as possible.

"But then, the Chaotic Response-"

Naruto shook his head in bitter resignation; he dragged his hand through his wet hair and sighed "You want to claim that the Response List was responsible for it all? Think! How does selecting a response, give someone abilities and skills they should not possess or have never trained to achieve? The only reason you have survived as long as you have – which isn't long at all – is because you have been _subconsciously_ channeling the powers and experiences that you gained. Or rather, that you _had_ gained."

The thunderous downpour increased, each and every drop of water slamming into the earth like a meteor shower of liquid essence. Issei's mind paid no heed to it; instead, he realized that no matter how he looked at it, no matter how he tried to deny it, the blond was right.

He had played enough games to know that some of the things he had achieved should not be possible. He froze as he remembered the notification he had seen earlier, he had used the skill "Leaf Whirlwind" of the Goken Fighting technique. When he had used it, it had felt completely natural, but yet, it was a fighting technique in a skill-set he did not possess.

It wasn't rage that had turned him into an expert hand-to-hand fighter when he had activated the Hallowed Eclipse in order to defeat Dohnaseek.

It wasn't a fluke that made him kill a giant rodent with headshot when he had never held or operated a gun in his life before then.

It wasn't luck that had allowed him to fight and nearly take down a golem several times his own level, simply by strategically going for its weak-points.

It was experience. It was because he had fought battles; over and over again, even though he did not realize it, he had gained the experience of a veteran fighter.

Issei took in deep, sharp breaths as he tried to calm himself, he could deal with the apocalypse, but this was something else entirely "I don't remember any of it. Why don't I remember any 'attempts' before now?"

Naruto smiled bitterly, the raindrops running down his face could easily be mistaken for tears as he let out the smile of an old man who knew that he had very little time left to live.

"When you run out of lives and can no longer load from a saved checkpoint, you die and time is reset to the moment of your birth. However, you do _not_ restart with your memories of the future."

Despite the thunderstorm and the fact that he was nearly freezing, Issei's palms began sweating. It was an odd feeling; he felt cold, but not because of the rain. He felt as though he had been submerged in ice-water and then lava, like he had been dunk in molten steel and bathed in quicksilver. It was a feeling of one trapped in icy quicksand, in which his attempts to escape merely made him delve deeper.

He had been stuck in a loop of time, rewinding and replaying, over and over again. He didn't know what was worse, knowing that he was trapped in the loop, or the realization that if he died, he was destined to repeat his entire life again, without ever realizing it.

Issei took in a deep breath and exhaled, his misty breath displaying slowly in the cold storm. He licked his dry lips and swallowed his suddenly parched throat "How long have I been playing? How many times?"

Naruto placed a finger on his chin calmly like a mother pondering what punishment she ought to give her disobedient child "How many weeks are there in a year?"

Issei's heart stopped for a fraction of a second and his chest felt cold. "Fifty-two."

Lightning flashed in the sky as the blond continued "How old are you now?"

"Sixteen."

"Multiply the two numbers and you should get the approximate number of times you have tried and failed to win this 'game'".

Thunder boomed and he figures calculated in Issei's brain rapidly.

Then all the blood drained from his face.

 **Error! Gamer's Mind already Maxed!**

 **Error!**

 **Error!**

 **Error!**

 _SLAP!_

"Get it together damn it!"

Naruto had grabbed Issei by the shoulders and began rapidly shaking him. The Gamer's had however sent his mind on a faraway journey, a place where he thought of nothing but boobs and of becoming the Harem King. He'd do anything at all to ensure that his sanity remained intact.

The number of times was unimaginably immense, and he felt that he would truly go insane if he dared say it out loud.

He was just a boy who wanted to become a Harem King; he never asked for any of this, he never wanted this power, but he had it, and now, he had to live with it without complaining. But to realize he was doomed to repeat his life without his knowledge was more damning than probably waking up and realizing that everything he had ever done in his life was an illusion.

Issei unhanded himself from Naruto and roared "How the hell do you expect me to keep it together after hearing something like _that_! How does anyone not go mad after realizing something like _that!_ How in the world are you even still-"

With a pause Issei understood why the blond man was so... _weird_. He wasn't sane. Or rather, he was trying his best to remain sane after everything he had seen and gone through. With the horrific knowledge of knowing that you were doomed to keep repeating your life over and over, with memories of the future, unable to move forward.

The constant eating of ramen was most probably a coping mechanism. As though it was the only thing in the world that made sense to him, or it was the only thing in the world which provided him with comfort and solace. Everything else, the weird offhand comments, the inappropriate manner he talked to people or perhaps the total apathy he had for everything was as a result of looping through time for what seemed to be infinity.

The two stood in uncomfortable silence, with nothing but the echoing of rain-drops all around them to signify that they had both come to an understanding of one another. Issei had gained a new level of respect for Uzumaki Naruto that he had never possessed for anyone in his entire life before.

The winds howled and helped return Issei's thought processes, as he calmly tried to reason what he should do from there on "How do you do it? How do you still remember everything from the past attempts?"

"I'm a Sage." Naruto answered as though it should be obvious "I meditated and absorbed Natural Energy from the environment for months. The Exodus Switch resets time, but I'm so in tune with nature, that I'm the only one who realizes that time has been reset and maintains my memories of everything that happened before the reset."

Natural Energy. Sage. Senjutsu. He suddenly understood why the blond man had given him those Senjutsu instruction manuals to read. But his intelligence had been too low for him to learn the skill.

"So if I learn Senjutsu-" Issei's hopes sharply skyrocketed.

"You'll need to be a master for you to become immune to the memory reset when time resets. This means your Senjutsu skill would have to be at Level 90 or Maxed, and it would take you _decades_ to be able to accomplish that now that the world has less and less _pure_ natural energy available."

Issei's hopes vanished into oblivion "Is there anything preventing you from stopping all this from happening? You have knowledge of the future; can't you just simply stop the apocalypse? Can't you make sure that all this never happens?" Issei calmly but coldly asked as he gazed at Naruto.

Rather than explain himself, Naruto rose up his arm and pointed towards it. A flash of lightning once more illuminated the sky and made it clearly obvious that the Uzumaki was fading away. Issei sharply used Observe once more.

 **Ailment: Abyss**

 **A curse of affliction of the highest level imaginable, delivered upon one who has broken a rule or oath that bounds him or upon one who directly interferes in matters he ought never to be involved.**

 **Condition: Terminal**

Issei managed to glance at it, and freeze up as the appendage felt like the void, empty and hollow, and most importantly, it was slowly fading away becoming like a spectral form in the corporal world.

"The creator of the game was an asshole who didn't want any outside interference. And as such, I can't directly interfere without certain risks." Naruto stretched out his hand, towards Issei, only for it to fade through like as though it wasn't even there.

"What is _that_?"

"It's the consequences." Naruto stated simply "Once I directly attempt to change the future or if I give you any information about the future, the Exodus Switch will react accordingly and I will be treated like a virus on a computer system. I will vanish and become more incorporeal than the faintest of phantoms, destined to wander the world alone, unable to communicate or interact with anyone or anything, for all eternity."

A cold shudder ran down Issei's spine. That was a fate much, _much_ worse than death. And clearly, the fading was slowly spreading across his body, indicating that the process had initiated.

"That's…" there was no adjective that the Hyoudou could find to describe the process. He had no way of apologizing or consoling something like that. How did one react to something like that? To realize that he would become a wisp of a soul for all eternity simply because he had decided to help Issei was a very sour thought. First he had suffered through an infinity of time loops, and now this?

Issei wondered why the blond had not simply gone insane and killed everything and everyone on the planet. The Gamer subtly ignored the small part of him that whispered that the Uzumaki probably had done something like that before.

Naruto shrugged indicating that he had seemingly gotten used to it "Trust me, I don't like it any more than you do, but I'll be back to normal once time resets."

Issei grimaced and clenched his fists, noting that the heavy downpour had severely lightened "I want to end the loops."

Naruto gave him a sour glance "I've heard you say that so many times it can be considered a running gag."

Issei shook his head "I can't just give up! I can't just let it go like this, I have to try!"

Naruto sighed "Issei, this loop was probably one of the most chaotic I've seen so far. I mean, this doesn't even _feel_ like the DxD I know."

Issei gazed at him intently, gears turning in his head "What do you mean?"

"Well for one, you're not the cliché wimp protagonist I got used to dealing with. Not to mention how the mood and themes switched faster than a pregnant drunk. It all started out with harmless comedy, then we suddenly got drama bombs and horror shows dropping all over the place, stupid political nonsense going on in the background, we got an extra cast list with C-list characters taking the front row and A-list characters becoming useless extras."

Naruto let out a chuckle as he rambled on "Hell, it sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud. We've got emperors of the underworld plotting war against greek gods and immortal pagan priests becoming fallen angels. We've got King Midas revived from the dead, a vampire princess that loves to plays an axe guitar, a scientist demon lord, a barefoot fairy queen, a king of heroes obsessed with past glory and an ancient warrior of Sparta running around doing Artemis's bidding. When I think about it, this _is_ the craziest attempt ever. So many things happened differently that I…"

The metaphorical light bulb went up in Naruto's head. The blond paused as dots began connecting and Issei was quick to hit the nail on the head. "So many things happened differently. Doesn't that mean that this _isn't_ like any other past attempt? Doesn't that mean that there's _still_ a chance?"

"Yes, but it's hardly considerable. You had zero chance of breaking the loop before, but with these differences, the chances of you being able to finally break the loop have increased by a very small margin."

The Gamer's hope slowly climbed "So you're saying that there's like a one in ten chance of success?"

Naruto scoffed, ignoring his slowly fading feet "More like a one in a million chance of success."

The grin that appeared on Hyoudou Issei's face could put the Cheshire cat to shame. "Those are the greatest odds known to mankind."

"What?" Naruto asked flatly as the echoing thunderstorm lightened.

"I don't care if the chance is one in one hundred, or one in a million. I don't care about what odds I'm facing or how many times I have failed before. The only thing I have ever truly been good at in my life is failing and falling. But… but! If there's one thing I know that I do…"

The winds blew allowing the clouds a brief passage of light to shine upon the form of Hyoudou Issei. Like a messenger from above, his eyes burned with intensity and fire, his black hair drenched and even in his half-naked form, he possessed the aura of someone who had a defiant will that would never give up. Of someone that would never surrender. He reminded Naruto of someone he had long forgotten and abandoned, of someone who had turned bitter and cynical, of someone who once possessed that spark, but had lost it to insanity.

He reminded Naruto of himself.

"…it's that I always get back up."

There was the one trait that made Hyoudou Issei, Hyoudou Issei. Whether it was being chased by a horde of angry females or being beat on by kendo sticks, he never once strayed from his cause. He always remained true to himself, like the living embodiment of human will and emotion. Issei was the personification of humanity, driven by desire, and controlled by self-restraint. He was weak and helpless until evolving into an apex predator. He was kind but not meek, courageous but not prideful. Just like the evolving man of old, there was one thing Issei had in spades…

It was sheer, overwhelming _perseverance_.

This was the one time, in an infinity of lifetimes that the Gamer had ever rendered the man known as Uzumaki Naruto completely speechless.

With a heart-felt chuckle, Naruto gazed up into the clearer skies "I think I finally understand why he gave you, of all people, the Exodus Switch."

It was ridiculous to think that Hyoudou Issei, with his pitiful charisma scores had convinced him of anything at all, but that seemed to be the case.

The tale of Hyoudou Issei was off to a rather rough and bumpy start, but it just, it _just_ might be salvageable.

Naruto glanced down and realized that he had very little time left. With a sigh, Naruto scratched his head "Somehow, someway, you've convinced me."

Issei rapidly nodded and paid rapt attention to the blond man.

"Alright, you want to end the loops kid? Here's how you do it." Naruto unsealed a large scroll on his person and tossed it over to Issei, watching as the black haired teen caught it and gave him a questioning look.

"That contains information on how to reload a saved game point as well as some... 'Goodies' you should find interesting. Simply pump chakra in it when you want to open it."

Clearing his throat, he continued "Now, the only way to end the loops is to prevent the apocalypse from happening. And how do you prevent the apocalypse you ask? Well, you simply have to eliminate the extra cast. Honestly this world has enough memorable characters already and it doesn't really need the extras."

"Er… who or what exactly are the extras?"

"I'm talking about characters that should not exist and _did_ not exist in this realm, suddenly appearing."

Issei still gave him a quizzical look.

"Listen closely, in the existence of the universe, I noticed certain individuals that exist in which their very presence and essence messes with the flow of time and order of events and automatically brings forth the Apocalypse."

Naruto's gaze hardened "They are brought forth from the effects of the multiple alternate realities created by your constant loops and retries, but they themselves are unaware of that fact. Their presence disrupts the natural balance and makes things even more out of sync than it's supposed to be, and so far, it seems there are eleven of them."

"Eleven?"

"Yeah eleven, probably because having an even number for this kind of stuff is cliché." Naruto said bluntly "I call them The Eleven Anomalies, and yes it's not the most imaginative name but I'm going for practicality here and not aesthetics."

"…I didn't say anything."

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Then who were you talking to?"

Naruto grinned "You wouldn't believe me even If I told you." Noticing that he had vanished up to his chest, he rapidly continued "As you might have guessed, the man I called Hidan is amongst them."

"So their presence shifts events and will cause the world to end and the only way to prevent this-" Issei gestured all around him "From happening, is to find and kill all eleven of them?"

"That's the gist of it. Unless you want to remain the only human in a post-apocalyptic world where animals and food mutate and overrun the planet."

The Gamer gave Naruto a blank stare that clearly stated he was not amused. He took in a deep breath like before and sharply steeled his mind. His eyes possessed a glint to it that shone and his fingers clenched and unclenched in anticipation.

He had a goal that he was working towards to; he had a new reason to gain strength and power. The thought of murder had never crossed his mind before then, but as he glanced at the empty wasteland around him, he bit his lip and resigned himself to the notion that if it came down to it, he would kill whoever he had to in order to prevent this from happening.

He had a goal: Prevent the Apocalpyse by killing The Eleven Anomalies.

This was where his story would truly begin.

"And the anomalies are?" Issei inquired, only to note that the Sage was fading from bottom up, and his bottom half had completely vanished.

"I think I've already given you the enough hints and I'm kind of running out of time here." The fading reached his neck and Naruto spoke even faster "Do note, that these Anomalies aren't all 'bad guys' per se and you might have to kill some of them in cold blood. And most certainly, some of them have followers that will despise you for eternity once you kill their masters."

Despite everything, Uzumaki Naruto had a giant grin on his face as it slowly faded away, and Hyoudou Issei could not help but marvel at the sheer audacity of this man as he smiled in the face of total annihilation.

"Now time for my farewell speech." He cleared his throat and yelled "This is it Issei! This is your moment of truth. This is your chance to go back and change history. This is the time for your legend to start anew. This is the moment we have all been waiting for! This is neither destiny nor fate; this is the path of diversion created by the will of man!"

He paused and increased his voice "You will face beings of unimaginable power capable tearing the world asunder! You will blur the lines between good and evil, between chaos and order, between love and hate and between life and death! You will not have to become a god slayer, you will have to become the man who _slays_ god-slayers! Tell me! Do you have what it takes?" His blond hair turned to nothing as all that remained were his lips and mouth.

"Yes." Issei stated with conviction, nodded his head rapidly.

"I said, DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?"

"YES!" the gamer roared out in excitement, somewhat unsure as to why he felt so certain and confident. It was almost as though Uzumaki Naruto had the highest Charisma skill in history.

"Well then, let this be your last attempt kid. All bets are off! The game is up and the chips are down, the stakes are high and the odds are low, the danger is huge and the payoff is slim! Friendships will be made, rules will be broken, wrongs will be righted and no stone must be left unturned!"

His face vanished completely, but Issei could have sworn he still heard the faintest whisper of the blond man's voice saying:

"Let the games begin."

* * *

~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~

Sitting down on the wet, ashy ground, Issei brought up his stats menu and dumped 110 points into Intelligence stat and put the remaining 30 into his wisdom. It was a momentary decision that he had made, and he assumed that going back to the previous checkpoint would probably reset his levels and skills. Looking at the scroll that Naruto had given him, he cast a quick Observe.

 **Scroll of Extreme Preparation**

 **A Fuinjutsu scroll created in the very, very,** _ **very**_ _ **low**_ **odds that Hyoudou Issei convinces Uzumaki Naruto that he can go back in time to undo the incoming disaster of the future. It has never been used, and probably never will.**

Issei ignored the description and took in a deep breath. With slight trepidation, he did as Naruto had asked and pumped chakra into the scroll he had received. A large puff of smoke obscured his vision, and within it, there was a note and two smaller scrolls, one red and one blue. The note within the scroll read:

" _Unlike most games, you can't manually reload a saved checkpoint. There are two ways to do so, at areas scattered across the universe called 'Save-Points' or with a special element called 'life' or game 'lives'. The red scroll contains all you need to know to win the game. The blue scroll contains a game 'life' you gave to me multiple attempts ago_."

As one would expect, Hyoudou Issei opened the red scroll first, only to freeze as the puff of smoke emerged, and the only thing that happened, was a single word forming on the parchment of paper in bold.

And the word read:

 **Loopholes.**

"Loopholes huh..." The Gamer gave one final glance to the world around him, before nodding his head in resignation.

He would stop the Apocalypse.

Opening the blue scroll, a large notification colored a thick black unlike the ones Issei had been seeing before appeared and left him somewhat speechless.

 **You have gotten an extra life! You can now continue the game if you die, or quit the game and reload from a last saved checkpoint.**

 **Would you like to quit the game now?**

 **[Y/N]**

With a deep breath, Issei pushed the yes button.

 **Warning! All unsaved progress will be lost. Are you sure you want to quit?**

 **[Y/N]**

In his final moments in the bad world, Issei let out a yell of determination and smashed his hand on the accept button.

The world rapidly began melting like a lost forgotten ice cream cone in a birthday party of infants. Colors blended and faded, buildings flattened like the dry autumn leaves and crinkled away into non-existence. The earth itself seemed to destabilize its gravity and become nothing but void as large, dark strips of the bloody soil formed letters in the sky.

Once the process was complete, Issei stood in a completely dark world, with nothing but giant words floating in his vision.

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **MAIN MENU**

 **New Game**

 _New Game +_

 **Load Game**

 **Extras**

 **Options**

 **Bonus Content**

 **Quit**

Issei glanced at the list, noting that the New Game + option was grayed out. It was probably the reason why he never restarted with his memories, as the option was currently unavailable. Glancing downwards, he was tempted to go straight to the load game, but there were several things he noted which were out of place or rather, which he did not understand.

"Bonus Content?" he pushed the button, only for the words on the screed to rapidly change.

 **Bonus Content**

 **Thank you for obtaining the Game of The Year Edition. You have also gained extra content only available only in this edition, and these include several expansion packs and unique bonuses!**

"What bonuses? I haven't received any stupid bonuses!" Issei grumbled as he immediately scrolled the giant screen for more information.

 **The Bonus Content available includes:**

 **Your Current Bonuses:-**

 **Perky Gamer: Adds several perks that grant special skill-sets and abilities, as well as granting the ability for perks to stack against each other!**

 **Interactive Discussion: All your available responses can now be accessed with the push of a button with the Response List Bonus Content! Note: This Bonus may be modified depending on difficulty setting selected.**

 **?: ? ? ?**

 **?: ? ? ?**

 **?: ? ? ?**

 **Expansion Packs:-**

 **Butterfly Quests: Butterfly quests are those tiny things that you may or may not choose to do that will completely alter the game in ways you cannot possibly imagine. This expansion pack unlocks a whole new set of endings never before conceived.**

 **Millennium Theater: ? ? ?**

 **?: ? ? ?**

 **?: ? ? ?**

"So my perks are a bonus…?" Issei glanced at the screen and scowled at the numerous question marks he found available. It didn't seem he could disable them, which meant that they'd probably be a part of the game for a very long while.

"Wait… can I change the difficulty settings?"

With the fervor of a man who had been told that he had a chance to win millions for simply drinking a cup of water, the gamer exited the bonus content menu and went straight into the Options. His eyes scanned rapidly as the words changed and he found what he was looking for.

 **Options**

 **Difficulty:** _Hard_

 **Tutorials and Hints: Disabled**

 **Background Music: Disabled**

 **Auto-Save Feature: Enabled**

 **Adult Content: Disabled**

 **ATP: Disabled**

"And of course I can't change the difficulty, like anything would ever be that easy." Issei sighed as he noted the remaining features.

"Well at the very least I can still change this!" He selected the Tutorials and Hints options as well as the Adult Content Options and put them back on. He however paused when he glanced at the option called ATP.

"What's this?" As though answering him, a small box appeared which read Hint and provided him with the information.

 **ATP: Short for Gamer's Mind – Accelerated Thought Process. This is an experimental feature which is usually advised to be left disabled as it provides a boost to the speed of thought of the Gamer, allowing one to comprehend information at near-light speeds but in return reduces the overall efficiency of the Gamer's Mind's immunity to negative psychological effects.**

 **Notes: This feature is experimental and may or may not contain glitches.**

"So… this will boost how fast I think but reduces my numbness to most negative emotions…" The darkness of the void was filled up with several seconds of contemplative silence as Issei weighed the pros and cons of the option. Honestly, Gamer's Mind had numerous benefits, but at the same time, Issei was certain that it had numerous drawbacks. No, it would be best for him to go through without it, and at the very least, in exchange foor loosing its effectiveness against psychological status effects, he would, at the very least gain a faster and more agile mind in return. No matter how experimental it said it was, Issei was willing to go through with that risk. He was already facing a million to one odd, so it wasn't like-

The teen quickly caught himself before he thought the dreaded _'It wasn't like anything else could go wrong_.' He knew now more than ever that there was a being called fate and she did not like to be tested.

After a few more seconds of deliberation, the Gamer enabled the setting and closed the options menu. No sooner had he done that, Issei found himself overflowing with a brilliant burst of ideas flowed from his head. It was like his mind had been a cloudy sky, and the storm had dispersed and left him filled to the brim with overwhelming brilliance.

"This game has been playing me for far too long. Now it's time I played it." Issei rubbed his palms together, and before he selected the load game option, he decided to begin putting things in order. First, Naruto had simply told him how to prevent the Apocalypse and possibly break the loops and cycles, but he never told him if doing so would actually end the game. Issei's goal was to complete the game, and if so, he would need to know what he needed to do.

"Hints. How do I win the Game?"

 **The only way to win the Game is to complete all the Ultimate Quests.**

"What are the Ultimate Quests?"

 **Ultimate Quests:-**

 **Defeat the Eleven Anomalies to prevent the Apocalypse.**

 **Worm your way into hearts and become a Harem King.**

 **Complete or Destroy the Eternal Trinity.**

The first two Issei could understand as they seemed simple enough, finding it weird and at the same time satisfying that becoming a Harem King was a requirement to win the game, but the last however was confusing.

"What is the Eternal Trinity?"

 **There is not enough information about the Eternal Trinity at your current level.**

Issei furrowed his dark eyebrows and decided to push that little piece of information to the back of his mind for now, or rather, to note that it would be worth looking into. Taking a huge breath of air in the vastness of space and time, Issei selected the Load Game Option.

 **Saved Game File – (Auto Saved) Checkpoint – Fallen Angel Arc**

 **Would you like to load the game from this point?**

 **[Y/N]**

"And once again it seems that you have reached a crossroad of destiny." A soft, melodious voice had echoed through the darkness, and for a brief second the Hyoudou was tempted to pretend as though he had simply imagined it.

Turning, he spotted something that should have been a physical – or metaphysical - impossibility. There, sitting on the giant letter 'D' of the Dragon of Dragons title screen was quite possibly the most beautiful woman Issei had ever seen in his life.

She was beautiful, undeniably, changelessly beautiful. Despite being dressed plainly in black jeans below a too-large black hooded sweatshirt, it could not hide the quiet elegance of her body or her face. Hair the color of midnight waved about a perfectly pale face, in which was set a pert little mouth and two eyes that sparkled with dark mischief. Yet, her eyes showed more than that, Issei felt as though if he were to truly gaze into those orbs of the woman, he would find himself lost, wandering for eons and millennia, until he became nothing but a mere, indiscernible speck in the face of the cosmos.

"Hello again Issei-kun, it's always nice to meet you." Issei found himself staring at this woman, who could seemingly interact with the game, who seemingly existed within this void of darkness and nothingness. This woman seemingly knew his name and spoke of him familiarly when he could not even recall who she was.

She let out a sigh and floated down from her sitting position, her dark, seemingly empty and infinite eyes gave Issei the slightest clue as to who she was, yet, a part of him did not want to confirm it.

"I suppose you've forgotten who I am, _again_." The woman let out a slightly annoyed expression and Issei felt his chest grow cold. "We meet each and every time this happens, and though that vexatious blond who manages to escape my grasp thinks himself the only one immune to the effects of time and space warping, he is not, in fact the only being to notice the anomaly."

Finally, Issei let out a dry, raspy echo in admission "You're… _Death._ "

The woman, finally acknowledged let out a mischievous smile "What gave it away? Was it the eyes or the black get-up?"

In possibly every conceivable way, Issei had never thought that he would meet the living incarnation of death _as a woman_. It was NOT a sexist comment in anyway or form, but it was simply the expectations he had placed upon it. Death had been called the Pale Horse _man_ , and it or she, as the case may be, was usually spoken of in the masculine pronoun whenever someone tried to personify the abstract concept.

As though reading his mind "Ah, you're probably thinking, 'why is Death a beautiful young woman and not some old man with a walking stick dressed in black robes'?"

Issei shrugged but said nothing, unsure as to whether or not anything he said would end up pissing off this phenomenal being. "Well I do it for the awe factor. People all expect a meeting with Death to be a gloomy, old guy, and when they usually meet me, they're not even surprised and almost feel disappointed about being right. So I twisted it up a bit."

Issei nodded. He still didn't trust his throat to operate fully.

"It was your idea by the way Issei-kun."

His idea? Issei's mind tried to ramble and decipher the meaning of what the Natural Phenomenon was saying. Then he remembered about the loops he had been having. Apparently, he had died so many times that he had become an acquaintance of Death without even realizing it? More especially, what was Death doing here? Wherever here was?

Issei was beginning to get the feeling that she was telepathic once she responded the unasked question "You are at the boundary between life and death. This is a realm above any other which can only be accessed by my servants – the Gods of Death – and myself. Yet, each time you are die or each time you are about to undo the works of the past, you arrive here." She stated casually as she glanced at the giant floating words with slight amusement.

Finally trusting his voice to operate, he asked "Why is that?"

The woman gave another mischievous smile "I suppose it was part of the requirements for this game of yours."

Issei's brows furrowed in confusion. Requirements? He didn't understand what she meant. Something told him that Death had something to do with whoever was the Game's Programmer. That was another thing the Uzumaki had failed to mention. Honestly Issei was beginning to feel that the Exodus Switch was just one big riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

Death simply gave a chilled smile "I have been watching you Hyoudou, and your loops through time have gotten more and more interesting." She stepped up to him, making the young man gulp deeply as she trailed her cold _Ohmygodsocold!_ hands on his face.

"Admittedly, it is annoying to repeat the same sixteen seconds over and over again." Her words just barely registered in Issei's brain as she brought their faces together, and made him realize that she considered _sixteen years_ as a mere _sixteen seconds_.

"I could simply end the loops here and now, I could but blink and your existence would cease, the loops would end and you would be cast into my realm for all eternity." Issei saw that she was serious, as he gazed into her eyes, he saw visions of his own death, falling from a great height, being stabbed, impaled, crucified, beheaded, blown apart, drowned, and an endless number of other ways in which he would meet his demise. Yet, for some reason other than the Gamer's Mind, Issei was neither scared nor worried.

He was officially one of the few people in existence who could proudly say that they had looked Death in the eye without flinching. Idly, Issei wondered if Naruto had been literal when he once claimed to have 'french-kissed' Death.

Summoning up whatever bravado he possessed, he managed to ground out "Why don't you?"

The woman cast her gaze away from his and let out a calming laugh. "Because you amuse me."

Issei could not help but find the sentiment to be strange. On seeing his expression, she clarified "I have lived since the beginning of time Issei-kun. I have reaped the souls of every bird that flocks to the air and every reptile that slithers on the floor, the souls of every fish that ever occupied the ocean and of every beast that has walked the earth."

Her eyes grew a truly bored and almost lifeless expression "I have reaped the souls men and I have reaped the souls of gods. I have seen civilization rise to the pinnacle of mankind and collapse to become nothing but a shell of its previous self. And I have seen the circle continue for eternity, and it has become a boring, repetitive continuity of which the outcome of every scenario is predictable. There is nothing left in this world capable of giving me even the slightest bit of amusement…" her lips upturned into one of the mischievous smirks Issei was quickly knowing her for "Except perhaps for you."

"Me?" Issei parroted, almost finding it hard to believe.

"Yes. Your exploits have been amusing to watch, your triumphs, your failures, your ways of trying to see to it that the world is saved from its rightfully deserved oblivion."

"But…" the woman's smirk vanished "You are rapidly beginning to bore me. I tire of a world that neither advances nor regresses, and your attempts and failures lack the comedic elements they once possessed." At this point she did chuckle.

"I remember a version of you once challenging the Dragon of Apocalypse, and the battle ending in a rather comedic form with your hair burning out and falling off before you tripped on your own feet and died from the fall."

Issei held in an internal wince, _that was what Death considered funny?_

"This is it Issei-kun. I am giving you this chance to show me something different, something interesting. Should you fail…" her frosty breath hit his skin and induced a shudder he could not prevent "…You will die,"

 _"...Once and for all_."

With those words, the being known as Death faded from Issei's perception, leaving him standing alone, still staring at the load checkpoint screen with no small sense of dread.

Taking in a huge gulp of air, Issei prepped his mind, pushed the yes button, and once more watched as the entire world faded to darkness.

* * *

 **A/N** : **And that's a wrap! This should probably explain some of the few things a bunch of you have been wondering about, especially a said blond man's eccentricities. I'm trying from here on out to take things much, much slowly, as well as to finally get together a single conflict, theme and tone. There will be drama, but not as heavy nor as intense as in the previous chapters.**

 **Now I'm pretty sure the top three concerns/questions I'm gonna get are:**

 **A. Hidan should not have been strong enough to take out both Sirzechs and Serafall**

 **B. Naruto is still hiding information and how does he knows about the options list**

 **C. Who is the game creator and what is the point of the game**

 **The question to the first is simple. Hidan was revived as a Twelve Winged Fallen Angel. This is potentially the strength of beings like Michael, and I am personal of the opinion that Michael and Sirzechs are of equal strength. In a straight out battle of power, Hidan would lose easily. However, note that he was revived with Asia's _Twilight Healing._ So he had regeneration as well access to his Death Controlling Possessed Blood Technique. I had originally typed out the entire apocalypse scene battles, as well as what had happened during Issei's absence, but I cut it all out as it was better to have Naruto explain it.**

 **The second and third questions however will be answered in story.**

 **Now thank you for reading, don't forget to review!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	10. To Be or Not To Be

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD or Naruto.**

 **A/N: Finally... the 100k word mark has been reached. The 1000k Follower mark has been reached. The 500 Review mark has been reached. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and insights. This is Silent Songbird saying, without you, this fic would be nothing. Oh and by the way, this is supposed to be a double update. This chapter was so long I decided to cut in in half, so expect the next chapter out soon.**

* * *

 _~~~~~~ **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition** ~~~~~~~_

 ** _Chapter 9: To Be or Not to Be_**

* * *

 **Uzumaki Naruto's Mansion**

 **12:34 A.M.**

 **You have slept on a Couch. HP and MP have been 75% restored. All negative status effects and ailments have been cured.**

Issei's eyes snapped open with the ferocity of a tiger about to hunt down his prey. Both the combination of his own innate sense of self-preservation, and the unflinching will he had gained after staring Death in the face spurned him to activity. He jumped up and stepped on the couch as his eyes rapidly glanced against the room. He remembered this place as Naruto's mansion, the apparently immortal Uzumaki must probably have an unlimited supply of funds if he had played his cards right during the years

He instantly glanced at his digital watch and confirmed the time as just several minutes past midnight, on the second day he had begun to fully actualize his gamer ability. He found it bizarre as to how it felt like such a long while ago, when in actuality it was a mere couple of hours. Without hesitating, he opened his Stats.

 **Statistics**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 24 [57.94%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 900/900**

 **MP: 3750/3750 [Chakra: 1900/1900] [LM/DM: 1875/1875]**

 **Strength: 22**

 **Vitality: 45**

 **Dexterity: 59**

 **Intelligence: 150(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 57 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 12 (+1)(+3)(+65.6)**

 **Charisma: 11 (-1)(+1)(+1.5)(+2)(+3)**

 **Updated Bio: Hyoudou Issei is a quasi-immortal, time-looping teenager whose goal was originally to become a Harem King; before he can do that he has to settle for the task of preventing the apocalypse. He has fought for centuries beside and against enemies of all types, though he has no conscious recollection of the fact. He must however now use his skills to fulfill his goal of preventing the apocalypse by slaying the Eleven Anomalies, whilst the Shadow of Death watches his every move, waiting for him to falter. Who are the anomalies? And what role does Death truly play in the system of the Exodus Switch?**

"My stats didn't get reset…" Issei could not believe it, he had fully been expecting everything to had gone back once he had travelled through time. If he was loading from a saved checkpoint, how in the world did he still possess stats from the future, - or past – when he had technically not yet grinded to gain that level of strength? Slowly, he heard a soft feminine chuckle echo at the back of his mind, and felt as though he had been hit with a bucket of ice water. Did _Death_ have something to do with this? Could she manipulate his game system?

Normally, Issei would simply not bother looking a gift horse in the mouth. However, the last time he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and entered a place where he could grind quickly had not ended well at all for him. So this time around, he had to carefully search for the reason as to why his stats hadn't been reset, and as to whether or not Death had a hand in it. Sadly, he would have to do that much later, as his plate was already full as it was.

Issei let out a silent sigh of annoyance and gratefulness at the same time. And there he was thinking he would have to grind again just so he could get back to the level he previously was, and wondering how long it would have taken this time around.

 _This time around_ ; His mind supplied him faintly. Gradually Issei's brain was finally catching up with facts; with what he had considered as _reality_. His brain yelled at him, arguing blankly about the impossibility of the scenarios he had undergone, it rejected each and everything he could see and observe, and it wondered if everything he had ever known was truly wrong.

In the span of _less_ than _forty-eight hours_ , he had discovered that devils, angels and supernatural beings were real; he had sent a girl to the hospital in one hit with a kendo stick, he discovered that he had been trapped in a temporal loop for centuries without having any knowledge of it. He had met the physical embodiment of _Death_ , and _then_ he had travelled through time.

This was the _average_ _day_ in the life of Hyoudou Issei.

Any other human being at this point would have been grasping the hairs on their head and yelling out absurdities before collapsing onto the ground, frothing at the mouth. He had a burden placed upon him to stop the end of the world, yet, he had never asked for such a burden. He hadn't asked for greatness, he had simply been picked, on whatever random whim and shoved into the limelight.

Issei wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. He wanted to simply sit back and chuckle as to how he had gone from thinking he would never get laid in life to having the fate of the world placed on his shoulders. He had always thought challenges in life would move at an arithmetic progression, little by little, systematically until it got harder and harder. This however, was nothing short of a geometric progression, he had started little, and within _hours_ , he was already reaching the heights of the totem pole. Admittedly, the only reason things had seemingly progressed so much faster was because of the loops, the looping through time over and over again.

Was he even still Hyoudou Issei? Was this version of him simply just another variant from what was supposed to be the original, having being distorted through changes in the timeline?

He didn't know. He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he wanted to be a harem king and he loved the feminine form. Why? Because a man in a park had convinced him of such when he was younger. His suddenly rational mind made him laugh at how ludicrous that sounded. He couldn't imagine basing his entire life goals, wishes and desires in life from a chance encounter with a random stranger.

The question remained though, who was Hyoudou Issei? A lecherous pervert who desired the feminine flesh, but had the heart of a chivalrous knight? No. Such a one-dimensional description was something he could only hope to find in Manga. Why did he do the things that he did? Why did he love the feminine form, yet had a strong enough moral compunction not to act upon his desires in immoral ways? Why did he want to be a Harem King? Was it simply to gain the pleasures of the feminine flesh, for which would indicate nothing but a shallow and empty personality? Or was it because he simply desired company, love and affection for which he was subconsciously starved?

Suddenly, an age old adage had popped into his mind with the subtlety of a wrecking ball.

 _What do you know, what do you think you know and why do you think you know it?_

 _STOP_.

Issei had to smack his head against a nearby wall to stop the thoughts from pouring in. Ignoring the **-5HP** notification, the teen immediately realized that the Gamer's Mind aided by the Accelerated Thought Process and his higher-than-average INT Stats were making him _think_ for the first time in his short sixteen years of existence. He was thinking clearly, seeing clearly, and suddenly, questions upon questions upon questions popped up in his mind with a burning desire to find the answers. He supposed he was currently thinking at no less than _three times_ the average thought speed for a human being, if such a thing was possible to be calculated or even quantified.

 _Ping!_

 **Congratulations! Through some unbelievable stroke of luck, you are no longer considered mentally incompetent!**

 **You have gained 100 points in the Intelligence Stat!**

 **You have gained 150 points in the Intelligence Stat!**

 **Your newfound intellect has provided several unique ways to utilize your knowledge!**

 **Major: Arts has gone up by 10!**

 **Major: Science has gone up by 20!**

 **Observe has gone up by 30! You can now view severely more information about targets, irrespective of their levels!**

 **Congratulations! The Observe skill now grants a passive effect even when not in use! This has unlocked the perk,** **Perfect Vision** **!**

 **Perfect Vision** **: You gain an insight into the true world, seeing its nature, forms, strengths, weaknesses and constituents. You can analyze the world at a glance, see the nature of your opponents attacks before they make them, and now gain a truer connection with the world around you.**

 **The Effects of Perfect Vision stack when utilizing any other sight-related skill.**

The feeling that overtook Issei was sharp and strong, his eyes stung for a fraction of a second, before he suddenly realized that the colors in the world had magnified in intensity. The only thing he could compare it to, was the feeling of staring at a giant HD television, and then suddenly jumping into the world of utterly clear definition.

However, he suddenly realized that this was not exactly a good thing. He could suddenly see _everything_. His eyes had simply just glanced around the entire room, but it took notice of every single detail with alarming clarity, without the active aid of the  Observe skill. From the ruffles of bearskin rugs to the greaves on the vintage medieval armor, to even the faintest of signatures on the renaissance themed surrealist paintings which adorned the walls; his mind was picking up each and every single one of these details with frightening accuracy. He could deduce rapidly, that the house he was in was over a hundred years old from the faint speck of mold that was at farthest edge of the room, clutching desperately against a small wooden crack in the ceiling.

He could tell, with but a glance, that the medieval armor and paintings within the house were all original, crafted works carefully selected and maintained through the ages, simply via noting the rust on the feet of the armor, and realizing that the frames of the paintings utilized an archaic style that could not be reduplicated with modern technology. He could tell at a glance, that the couch he had been on was not made of pure 100% leather, that it was significantly warmer than the temperature of the room, and it indicated that someone had been on it earlier, as well as the fact that there was very little dust underneath it, meaning that it was a recently acquired purchase.

His mind was a blur of mathematical calculations and estimations. He could give an accurate estimation of temperatures of objects at a glance, he could calculate their distances from other objects, calculate their weight, length/height, and even the volume of a glass of water across the room.

He had very little doubts now that he would be able to see certain elements of the electromagnetic spectrum that were supposed to be invisible to the naked eye.

He also realized that before now, he didn't even _know_ what the electromagnetic spectrum was.

Just to confirm a Hypothesis, Issei activated Devil's Sight. He let out a soft gasp when he realized that he could see heat signatures and even bioluminescence and that he could see through walls and objects. A part of him immediately wondered if he could use the power to see through clothes.

However, the Gamer's Mind did not classify this as a harmful psychological effect. All the same, Issei was finding it difficult to suddenly deal with this newfound weird sense of hyper-awareness. Not to mention, new random thoughts were popping into his head from idle thoughts he had previously entertained. Some were perverted of course, such as:

 _Why do female devils seemingly have such huge breast sizes? Do they have the same attitude towards Virginity as humans do?_

 _If we are different Races, does that mean that a human can have sex with a devil without fear of getting her knocked up?_

But once his mind started clearing up, the thoughts and questions became more serious.

 _Are the physiology, neurology, and overall anatomy of devils and angels the same as humans?_

 _If so, can their extra-appendages and abilities simply be a manifestation of mutations rather than some supernatural power?_

 _How did they come into existence in the first place? Created by a creator? If such is true, then does this creator not also require a creator of his own, and does the creator of the creator not also require a creator? Does this not spiral into a never ending cycle, in which case, constitutes a needless paradox?_

" _Enough_!"

SLAM!

- **10 HP!**

He knew that banging his head against the wall wouldn't stop the thoughts from pouring in, but it was the closest he could get in the meantime. How did one solve the problem of an overactive or clouded mind? Ah right, the most effective method he could conjure was meditation. With that in mind, - no pun intended – Hyoudou Issei sat down, closed his eyes and took in deep breaths in slow, timed paces.

 _Ping!_

 **Through the act of finally realizing that you need some down time to organize the clustered mayhem that is your mind, and successfully doing so, a new skill has been created!**

 **Meditate [Active] Lv. 1**

 **Men of great wisdom invented the art of Meditation in order to achieve silent contemplation and reflection of oneself and also as a mental exercise in order to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness. It can also be used to achieve inner peace and self-control.**

 **Moving will end the effects of Meditate.**

 **Doubles all Regeneration Rates when Active**

 **Grants a 10% boost in efficiency to Gamer's Mind when active**

 **Grants a 10% Boost to Senjutsu when Active**

 **Grants a 10% boost to all Mind-Related/Awareness skills when active**

There was a certain calm and silence that overtook Issei and he let out a deep breath of satisfaction. Without hesitation, he rapidly dedicated to the task of taking all his thoughts, all the ones that asked questions and all the ones that fired with inquisitive curiosity and proceeded to gently arrange it into a part of his mind and give it its own persona. He dubbed it, _Logic,_ for simplicity and practicality. Then once he was done organizing his pseudo-persona in his mind, he immediately tasked it with solving his current problems, the problems he had travelled through time in an attempt to fix.

His eyes snapped open, and solutions poured out of his mind. He _needed_ a plan, and then he needed a backup plan, and then he needed a backup plan _for_ his backup plan. The errors of his ways had been criticized with the cold, hard effectiveness of a military personal sizing up his latest batch of recruits. His mistakes became highlighted as though someone had put it up on a giant screen and proceeded to play it in extremely slow motion. He couldn't risk losing anything anymore, he couldn't risk failing anymore. Not when the shadow of Death loomed over him, telling him to _amuse_ her.

There was a brief surge of anger and annoyance at the thought, but he squashed it down with the Gamer's Mind. It was infuriating to think that Death saw him as nothing more than a mere pawn in a cosmic game of chess, or a personal court jester who would do anything he commanded. She or it, felt that he was beginning to _bore her_ , as though it was his _job_ to entertain Death. Yes, the being or entity was infinitely more powerful than him. Yes, he should be happy that she didn't just end his life there and then. Yes, it was stupid to think that he could do anything against her. Yet, Issei just _hated_ the feeling of being a mere pawn in someone else's grand game of life.

There was a small, asinine part of him that wanted to gain true immortality just so he could give the natural phenomenon the middle finger and proceed to moonwalk away from her while laughing like a deranged psychopath. Or perhaps maybe he could show her how _amusing_ he could be when he made her scream his name in pure, mind-numbing ecstasy.

Issei snorted. And then when he was done, he could proudly wear a t-shirt which read _"I fucked with Death. So don't fuck with me."_

The Gamer disregarded the random thought and it vanished away into his subconscious. However, what didn't vanish away was a notification that suddenly came up.

 _Ping!_

 **New Butterfly Quest – [Long Term]!**

 **Immortal and Divine**

 **You do not wish to be a mere plaything of Death. You wish to overcome it, vanquish it and/or to become its master. Therefore, find a way to become Immortal and Achieve true Godhood.**

 **Main Objectives** **:-**

 **Attain True Immortality**

 **Become: The One Above All – A True God**

 **Defeat Death – [One way or another]**

 **Bonus Objectives** **:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 6,000,000,000 EXP! Gain Titles: The One Above All, The Master Of Death, The One True God. Gain Status Effect: Deathless.**

 **Bonus Rewards: 3,000,000 EXP per Bonus Objective, Gain Perks: Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence. Gain Special T-Shirt** _ **: "I fucked with death to become immortal and all I got was this Lousy T-Shirt"**_

 **Failure: None.**

 **Would you like to accept this quest?**

 **[Y/N]**

' _So the game still has a sense of humor.'_

The fact that he could subconsciously create quests was the second thing on Issei's mind as he gazed at the alert. He could choose to either accept or deny the quest, but he could not even believe that a quest like this was possible. Hell, the Experience gains were unbelievably immense, but at the same time, the quest was as vague as possible. There were no hints on how he could gain true immortality, but the fact that it _was_ possible for him to master and defeat death was a truly tempting offer. He gazed at the button, wondering truly if he should accept the task of becoming immortal.

 _Did you want to become a God?_ 'Logic' had asked. If someone were to ask that question to the average person, the answer would be yes. The most obvious choice to follow would be yes. Who wouldn't want to gain the power to protect himself, to accomplish his goals, and to be literally unstoppable? Not to mention the numerous benefits in bed, he'd be able to make women melt in his hands without even trying.

 _Do you want to be immortal?_ His Logic had asked once more, and he found the answer also being yes, albeit more reluctantly. He wanted to live today, and tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. He wanted to live twenty years from now, and even if he were a hundred, he would want to keep living for one more day. Did that mean therefore, that if he wanted to keep living for another day, he did not wish to die?

He had not seen heaven nor hell, but he now knew that they were both real. Did he wish to die and then simply spend his time in heaven, surrounded by the angels, and singing praises all day long? The notion was almost enough to make him laugh. He did not know what heaven was supposed to be like. He wasn't sure, and maybe he would find out. But even if he found out, would he still wish to go there once he _died?_

He didn't know. All he knew was that Tsubasa, Sona and most possibly Koneko were devils, and once they died, they would not go to heaven. That thought alone, was one reason why Issei did not wish to die, and why he did not wish to go to heaven. That is, if such a place would even dream of accepting him after all the things he had done _and_ planned on doing in his life.

His gaze locked back on to the bright options of yes or no, his mind lost in thought as he wondered if accepting such a quest would be the right thing to do.

 _Don't be immortal! It's not right!_ A part of him he rapidly called Ethics had argued, _Just think about all the immortals you know, Naruto-san doesn't look happy to be immortal, and Death is bored out of her mind because there's nothing to alleviate her boredom. Being immortal is wrong._

 _It's not about what's right or wrong._ Logic argued back. _You are already planning on killing some people called 'anomalies' in cold blood. That isn't right. Your actions can't be judged with good or bad anymore, but only from their consequences. The consequences of immortality are all beneficial to yourself and to others as well._

 _No._ Ethics said. _What will you do once you become bored of your immortality? Once you have tasted every benefit of living on earth? Once you have mastered every language, every instrument, every art, every science, once you have lived to the fullest, and then wish to move on to the afterlife, and then you find yourself unable to do so?_

 _Your argument is invalid and your scope is highly limited_. Logic said coldly. _Even after we would have mastered each and every one of those things, the universe is a vast place. How many gods out there have sought to evolve beyond their station? How many gods have tried exploring the true depths of the universe? The earth is but a tiny, pale blue dot in the vastness of space, a single planet in the milky-way galaxy. There is the possibility of advancing towards other galaxies, other universes, or even, the idea of a multiverse! How many gods do you think have stepped foot on Mars and how many gods have explored the rings of Jupiter? How many gods have thought to even leave the Milky Way galaxy and how many gods have claimed to have travelled to a realm beyond the stars? No, if your imagination is limitless, immortality can never truly be a dull moment._

'Ethics' had lost the argument within Issei and he knew it. His morals had never truly been strong enough to completely sway him, otherwise he would have never thought about becoming a pervert in the first place. His cold sense of Logic was rapidly booming, making him think faster and sharper, think slightly more critically than he was used to. It would seem that he would select his option based on what he could understand.

"To be or not to be… immortal; I suppose that is the question." The voice came out as a slow, dramatic drawl drew Issei out of his internal monologue and he cast a quick, silent and masterful Observe.

 **Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto Lv. ?**

 **Title: The Nidaime Rikudo Sennin**

 **Race: Immortal Human(?)**

 **Class: ?**

 **Age: N/A**

 **Occupation(s): Writer, Actor, Playwright, Director, Producer and Teacher**

 **Alignment: Varies Greatly, currently Chaotic Good.**

 **HP: ?/?**

 **CP: ?/?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Vitality: ?**

 **Dexterity: ?**

 **Intelligence: ?**

 **Wisdom: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **Charisma** **:** **?**

 **Current Emotions: Intrigued, Curious.**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

 **Bio: Uzumaki Naruto is an immortal Shinobi from the Shinobi Era, a period of the earth long lost and forgotten to historians of all kinds, but not to the supernatural deities. He is seemingly sarcastic, blunt, and overly-dramatic and acts as though he cares very little for other people. This may be a mask however to hide his insanity and loneliness due to the fact that he has lived for thousands of years and has been looping the same sixteen years for centuries.**

 **Likes: Ramen, Sexy Girls, people who follow their dreams, writing, pranking and fun**

 **Dislikes: The creator of the game, assholes, idiots, bigots, needless wars and boredom**

 **Views: He thinks you will mess up this loop again and that you will never get laid.**

"You're back." Issei said, his lips upturned slightly at the sheer amount of information now provided by the Observe skill, albeit he was certain that it was because it was being boosted by Meditate. Still, it gave him Naruto's full name, and some of his likes and dislikes. "And you're ripping-off literature. I'm pretty sure the speech would have been less impressive if Hamlet had said it the way you just did."

"Actually," Naruto said "I was present for when the play was first put on stage. Trust me when I say that the guy who played the role of Hamlet has _nothing_ on me."

"Of course" Issei said with a roll of his eyes "One of these days I'll invent a time machine and travel back just to see if you're serious or if you're bluffing." Issei paused, a random thought occurring to him "Speaking of time travel, when I looped back to the past, doesn't it mean that you never became a wisp of a soul in the first place? I never understood the concept of paradoxes."

"The less you know, the better for all of us." Naruto said, slowly walking down from his stairs. "Time is a fickle thing and interfering with time can be the fastest way to end the world."

"It sucks" Issei said. "There are over a million ways to destroy the world, and very few ways to save it. Is it _always_ that much easier for one psychopath to just wake up and think, 'hey, let's end humanity today' than for someone else to try to find ways to _improve_ things instead?"

"Yes, it is." Naruto said, the man gained an inquisitive look on his face "And you've been finding clever ways to avoid the question. Why do you want to become immortal?"

Issei debated whether or not he should tell the blond, but decided to anyway. "I met _Death_."

A glint shone in the blond man's eyes "Ah, Death-chan." He said. "She possesses the influence to change a man more rapidly than anything else. A 'near-death' experience is what most would call it. Simply being exposed for a brief amount of time to her aura can make you change the way you see or perceive the world." His face turned grim "But not always for the better."

"More the reason," Issei shrugged "that I think I should find a way to control her if not get rid of her."

There was a bark of laughter, a deep throaty sound that felt completely unfamiliar to Issei, as he watched the blond man divulge into the sort of sarcastic laughter one would have if someone had made a ridiculous statement like 'a diploma guarantees you to become a billionaire overnight.'

 _Ping!_

 **For verbally expressing such an implausible and downright unbelievable idea that would guarantee laughter and make people question your sanity, your Charisma has gone up by 2!**

And the game system was always certain to mock him. At least some things never changed.

"Get rid of death?" Naruto said "That's a really good one kid. You can't get rid of death. It's _DEATH_. At best, you might control it or keep it at bay, but trying to eliminate death would be like trying to eat your own teeth while it's still in your mouth."

"And even if" Naruto's eyes narrowed "Somehow someway, you do manage to accomplish that impossible task, you would only end up destroying the world. Can you imagine a world where _nothing_ died?"

"Yes I can." the images conjured themselves in Issei's brain within microseconds and the words flowed out rapidly "If there was no disease or death, we'd live happier, fuller lives. There would be no war because since nobody died, the fighting would rage on until both sides realized it was pointless and formulate a truth. Geniuses would live forever, and help make new ground-breaking discoveries in science. Generations of knowledge would remain ever permanent, people could accomplish their dreams hopes and aspirations and you can always have a second, a third or even a millionth chance." Issei took in a breath "Because they would have all the time in the world."

"And what would happen" Naruto said "Once the earth's resources are no longer able to contain its population?"

"Flawed," Issei said, finding it weird to realize that he possessed such knowledge in his own head "That theory is flawed. And even if it wasn't, there is always the possibility of technology evolving so we can inhabit other planets. Other galaxies or even other universes! I mean, you're immortal, but have you even tried leaving the planet earth to gaze out in space or walk on the moon?"

Naruto gave him a small smile that left Issei looking annoyed "You've walked on the moon before haven't you." Issei didn't word it as a question but as a statement.

Naruto said nothing, leaving the room to bask in the monotonous echo of a ticking clock.

"I see" The gamer rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, suddenly feeling the effects of the Meditate skill nullify from his movements "I think the question I should be asking you is not what you _have_ done, but rather what you _haven't_ done before."

"For all the brief intelligence you have gained gaki" Naruto said, looking like the wizened sage he often claimed to be "You fail to realize that humans are not the only things that are affected by Death. I asked you to imagine a world where _nothing_ dies, not a world where _no humans_ die."

"What difference-" Issei sat as a frozen statue, his mind rapidly processed the information, and he realized how flawed his thinking had been. He supposed he now understood the meaning of the phrase 'Intelligence without Wisdom.'

"Imagine" Naruto said "A world where _nothing_ died. Imagine a world where animals didn't die, where plants didn't die. Just pause and think about the utter chaos that would occur. Within days, the rodent and insect population would overtake everything. You can't get rid of them because there is no death."

Issei opened his mouth to speak, but his brain, for all his fast thinking could not counter that perfectly valid argument.

"Just imagine," Naruto said, his lips twitching "Eating your sushi while it flaps around on your plate because it is still alive. Or imagine having a burger in your hand, and the beef inside of it moos when you bite down."

Issei realized that such an image would be both comedic and horrific.

"Not to mention how fast animals would overpopulate... the insects, the ants, the whales... the bunnies!"

"Okay" Issei said "So maybe a world where _nothing_ dies is a really, _really_ bad idea. But what if I decide to simply just make myself and my loved ones immortal?"

"Not everyone will think as you do. Not everyone wishes to live forever. Do you really think, that if given the chance, your _parents_ would accept the offer of immortality?"

The answer to that question was obvious and it did not need to be said. Issei's parents would clearly never take such an offer, for whatever reason they could conjure.

Naruto ran his hand through his hair "Just know that should you succeed in your attempts, and become immortal you will have to forever live alone." Naruto's gaze became serious "Your loved ones will not wish to become immortal and you will have no choice but to watch as they age and die, you will watch as your children and perhaps even your children's children will age and die. And you will remain young forever, soaking up their jealousy, envy and hatred."

 _Are you speaking from experience?_ Issei had wanted to ask. But he couldn't. The words had formed in his throat, his mouth and opened, and then they had closed once more. The words being forced back down. It would be a very personal question, one of which he would have to have been a completely insensitive idiot to ask.

"Still…" Issei said, the alternatives where pretty bleak when he looked at immortality. Simply dying and going to heaven or hell? Becoming a devil or an angel? In which case, he could still die, but then he would simply cease to exist? "I still think that immortality isn't a bad thing. You can always accomplish everything you've ever wanted and then more."

Naruto shook his head in exasperation "You simply do not understand how _vast_ the concept of _eternity_ is. You can accomplish everything and more, and then what?"

The Gamer got up, dusted his ruined school uniform and shook his head "Then you keep moving forward! You keep on accomplishing more! Keep on developing! Keep on evolving! Is that so hard to understand?"

"It's easier to say when you don't have to watch everyone you ever loved grow old and die!"

The room was pin-drop silent.

"Could you watch your parents, your friends, your loved ones die again and again? Can you keep your sanity intact as everyone you've ever lost dies over and over? What would you do then, once immortality has rendered you forever alone? Tell me, what would you do?" Naruto's voice was frigid, yet, his eyes had sparkled with the Rinnegan, and those purple orbs showed sheer anger and frustration.

Issei's mind scrambled rapidly, and then he realized that this was seemingly a moment of truth. Within seconds, he came to his conclusion.

 **Savvy Response Selected.**

"I'd get over it."

There was a pause for the second time, longer than the first.

It was a pause in which Issei realized that he didn't like this version of the Uzumaki. He preferred the blond when he was cracking insane jokes and full of sarcastic mirth. But he wondered, he truly wondered, if his insanity was a mask hiding his loneliness and guilt, and even more, if the loneliness and guilt was another mask hiding the true madness that lay buried within.

"You're right, I don't understand how it must feel to watch someone you love grow old and die" he conceded, "and I don't understand how it would feel like for you to know that no matter how many people you would fall in love with, they would always leave you behind. I don't understand how it would feel, for you to have such a fate, to be always alone."

Issei's gaze turned serious "But that's the thing, you loved them, you enjoyed your best moments with them, laughing, singing, eating, playing. Every second you had with them is memory, a precious memory that can't be forgotten, a memory that stays with you no matter how many centuries or millennia passes, as long as you have the memory of them… can you truly say that they are gone? That they have left you with nothing?"

Naruto's expression was one of stone, his hair covered his eyes and he said nothing as his form was as rigid as steel.

"They are with you, no matter what, their physical form may be gone, but their souls will always travel with you. So can't you see…" Issei ran his hands down through his hair.

"Can't you see that moping about how they're gone and how you'll never see them again is nothing but an insult to their precious memories?"

The intensity of the silence in the room would have put a graveyard to shame.

"I mean seriously" Issei said finally with a bit of a smile "You're the one always pointing out these stupid clichés in my life, so get over the whole 'immortal with a tortured past who can never love again' trope, find yourself a nice girl, a good bottle of sake, a bowl of ramen, and enjoy the moments, for as long as you possibly can."

For the second time in their brief conversation, Uzumaki Naruto… _laughed_.

It wasn't a sarcastic laugh like he had given before, rather, it was more of the bellow of a grandfather watching the playful antics of young children and reminiscing of his own adolescence. Issei was really questioning the man's sanity at this point.

"Kid," he said in between laughs "I've lived for over fifty thousand years. I am older than the Ten Commandments, and I have seen the rise and falls of kingdoms and civilizations. Throughout that era, I had nothing but boredom as my companion. Truly, I knew nothing but total, abject, everlasting, hideous boredom. But…"

"Then I met you and everything changed." Naruto said with a smile "For the past several centuries, I got to live the same sixteen years over and over again. Sometimes I screwed with things just to see how many different outcomes were possible, did insane things because I knew that the loops would reset time eventually, and I found myself having more fun in those few centuries than I have for the thousands of years that I had lived."

He gained a thoughtful look "Well, at least until I was discovered and had rules placed upon me preventing me from interrupting, but that's beside the point." Naruto grinned "Don't worry about me going down the emo, angst-filled immortal route because – it's an overdone cliché in several multiverses already – thanks to you, I've handled my demons a long time ago."

And with that simple weird statement, the Uzumaki Naruto that Issei was beginning to know and cherish was back.

"And if you truly do want to become immortal," Naruto said "I'm not going to stop you. You gave me some pretty good ideas and I think I could use a fellow immortal friend to explore the cosmos with."

"Really?" Issei looked at the blond with some level of surprise.

"Yep." Naruto said "I've seen demons, gods, spirits, ghouls and all sorts of creatures, so it would be nice to see some aliens for a change. Hey, who knows, there's always the possibility of hot alien girls?"

Issei's eyes sparkled as Naruto continued "Not to mention, just think about all the pranks we could pull on the universe? Imagine trapping a ghost on mars and having people believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life?"

Issei grinned "Isn't mars a little bit too big? How bout we start small with a simple prank of putting a werewolf on the moon?"

"Genius! Why didn't I think of it?" Naruto placed his arm around Issei's shoulders "Ah, gaki, I think this might be the start of a beautiful, immortal friendship."

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 **You have gained a new ally – Uzumaki Naruto!**

 **Savvy Response Selected! Gained 150 EXP!**

 **You managed to give a pep-talk to Uzumaki Naruto that being immortal can actually be fun! Your Charisma has gone up by 3!**

Issei felt that if you truly knew what you were doing and looked back without regrets, immortality wasn't a coward's choice, nor was it a burden. If it were, then Peter Pan would be a horror story instead of a children's fairy tale. He would prove, that immortality could actually be awesome. With those thoughts, Issei took one look at his notification and pushed down a simple button.

 **[Long Term] Butterfly Quest Accepted.**

Issei truly felt he had made the right choice. So why had cold shivers run down his spine?

He decided to ignore it. He ignored it exactly the same way he ignored the soft feminine voice that whispered mockingly " _You poor, poor fool."_

 _Ping!_

"What now?" Issei groaned.

 **You have made a** **Karmic Choice** **. These are the choices that determine your alignment, and certain actions or deeds will shift your alignment accordingly.**

 **Choice: You decided to become Immortal due to your desire to explore the universe and your unwillingness to accept death.**

 **Karmic Rating:-**

 **Lawful – [0.1%]**

 **Neutral – [10.0%]**

 **Chaotic – [89.9%]**

 **Alignment Rating:-**

 **Good – [10.0%]**

 **Neutral – [70.9%]**

 **Evil – [19.1%]**

 **Your Alignment is Chaotic Neutral!**

"No surprise there." Issei said dryly "So what, no change at all? I need some Hints please!"

 **Notes: The scores for each Karmic Choice are recorded and kept similar to a Cumulative Grade Point Average System. The more your choices lean towards a particular Karma or Alignment, the more prominent your chances of switching to that alignment become.**

 **For instance, getting a 50% Good Rating three times in a row will equal a total of 150% Good Alignment Rating. If this score overshadows or surpasses any other alignment rating, this will change your alignment to Good. However, getting a 99.9% or 100% Alignment Rating in any of the three areas [Good, Neutral, Evil] may instantly change your Alignment towards that specific preference.**

 **Do note that your race can also affect this system; as all Devils are given the Evil Alignment for being Devils, and all Angels are given the Good Alignment for being Angels, with some exceptions. Also, the Alignments of Gods, Buddhas and several other races may vary just as vastly as humans. Lastly, most animals are given the True Neutral Alignment due to their lack of capacity for moral judgment, since they are guided by instinct rather than conscious decision.**

"Huh" Naruto looked over the notification with a bit of amusement. "You'd think making a decision to become immortal would have bigger effects than that."

Naruto glanced at Issei and saw the Gamer grimace.

"I just jinxed it didn't I?"

The resounding echo of a dull _Ping!_ served as his answer.

 **Ultimate Quest Updated**

 **You have chosen to master and defeat Death. Hence, you have Chosen to Destroy the Eternal Trinity.**

 **Objectives:-**

 **Defeat the One Born of Nothing: "Death"**

 **Defeat the One Born of Infinity: "Ophis"**

 **Defeat the One Born of Dreams: "Great Red"**

 **Your choice cannot be changed and this Quest can neither be ignored nor denied as it is essential to complete the Game.**

Issei glanced at Naruto, and Naruto glanced back at him with the same expressionless face, and the blond said the one thing that was on both of their minds.

"Well it's official." Naruto grinned and gave two thumbs up "You're fucked."

~~~~~~~~ _Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition~~~~~~~~~_

* * *

 ** _A/N: As I said... double update. Hopefully I'll get the second one out before the day is done._**

 **So. Remember I said that this was going to be a Smart!Issei fic? Yeah. That starts now. And sorry for not updating for in May... my only excuse?**

 **Two Words:** **Uncharted 4.**

 **Here's a question for the readers though: If you were given a chance to be immortal, unaging and undying, and knowing that no one would think less of you for your choice, would you take it?**

 **I know I would.**

 ** _R &R!_**

 ** _Silent Songbird._**


	11. The Hero, The Princess and The Monster

**A/N: The second part, as promised. From here on out, I'm going to write what I feel like writing and what I want to write honestly, because otherwise there's no point in doing this. For those who enjoy this and keep reading, I promise you an intriguing tale that you will never forget. For those who dislike the story, I thank you for coming with me this far, and kindly implore you to try your hand at other fics out there.**

 **I read Ryuugi's Games We Play, and it makes my fic look like it was written by a kindergartner in comparison, but then again life isn't about comparing yourself with others, it's about being the best you can be and then being contented with that. There's always going to be someone better, faster, stronger and richer, and if we can't accept that, then I suppose we've failed what I think should be the simplest task in life: being content.**

* * *

 ** _~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~_**

 ** _Chapter 10: The Hero, The Princess and the Monster_**

* * *

 **Uzumaki Naruto's Mansion**

 **12:41 AM**

 _Tick._

 _Tock._

 _Tick._

 _Tock._

 _Tick._

 _To-_

 _BLAM!_

A golden, blessed and holy bullet inserted itself directly into the offending clock, travelling several miles an hour in micro-seconds and with pin-point accuracy effectively hitting the center and shattering the device to pieces.

"Hey!" a blond said "Don't take it out on my furniture!"

 _BLAM!_

A bullet promptly lodged itself into the Uzumaki's head, or rather, it would have had the man not opened his mouth at the last second to catch the offending projectile between his teeth.

He spat out the bullet and gave the Gamer a glare "Don't take it out on me either!"

The black haired teen blew the steam out of the smoking exorcist's gun and shrugged "You're rich and immortal. You can always get another clock and the bullet wouldn't have killed you."

"I'm not rich." Naruto said modestly, only for the Gamer to give him a bland stare.

"You're _immortal_ , you _have_ to be rich." He said blandly "If you weren't rich, you'd be the stupidest immortal ever."

"How flattering" the blonde immortal rolled his eyes "Still, you pretty much know that you brought this up on yourself when you decided to control Death."

"And how exactly" the black-haired gamer had an expressionless façade "Was I supposed to know that wanting to defeat death would mean signing up to fight all the strongest beings in existence?"

"Well," Naruto said, "If you're gonna do something, why not just do it all the way? Think of it as a grand adventure.

"An adventure." The lack of mirth in Issei's voice was overly condescending. He was beginning to suspect that the loops also reset the Uzumaki's personality, because the sarcastic, I-don't-give-a-damn Uzumaki Naruto would never have seriously suggested that he looked at the upside of things. Or perhaps it was the side-effects of the Abyss curse finally clearing, either way, this wasn't natural.

"Yes an adventure." Naruto repeated "You've got villains to take down, monsters to slay, damsels to rescue," Naruto's lips twitched "In fact, I'd say that things are actually starting to look like a game for once."

"Wonderful" Issei said wryly "I find so much joy in knowing that my life is finally amusing enough to look like a video-game for your leisurely consumption."

Naruto frowned "Someone sounds bitter."

"Bitter? Bitter doesn't even begin to cover it!" Issei hissed sharply "This… this is beyond _fucked_ up!"

"Oi! Language!"

Issei looked affronted "What?"

"Can't have you swearing now can we?" Naruto said "The ladies find it uncouth."

"The fate of the world hangs in the balance and you're worried about me _swearing?_ " There was no small amount of incredulity in Issei's tone, now he _knew_ that the reset had definitely done something to the blond immortal. "You swear all the time!"

"Yes, because I'm legal, can drink and can pay my own bills." Naruto shrugged "You're still sixteen."

"That's a lame excuse and you know it."

"Whatever" Naruto shook his head, not willing to tell Issei that he was Kuoh's Guidance Counselor, and as such he couldn't have students swearing in his premises "I don't see what the big deal is about fighting the Trinity. You're not scared or worried, neither are you really angry, because honestly you've got the greatest cheat code to strength in the entire world."

Naruto gave him a conspicuous glance "So what's your problem?"

Issei opened his mouth to speak, then he closed it again. He twirled the Exorcist's gun in his hands and silently returned it to his inventory.

"I just think it's unfair."

"Life isn't supposed to be fair."

"I know that." Issei responded sharply "It's just…"

"Just…?"

"Do you think I can go back? That I can return to a life of a high-school boy peeping on girls? That things can go back to normal?"

Naruto shook his head "There was never any 'normal' for you in the first place Issei." He sighed "You just never realized it."

There was a pause.

"I see" Issei rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "You know what's funny?"

"What?"

Issei managed a small smirk "Even If I did have a chance to go back to the way things were. I don't think I'd take it."

Naruto smiled "I think that's simply because of you accepting who you are, or rather, accepting who you are meant to be."

"Well then." Issei sighed "I've got a future lined up with possible opponents at every corner. I suppose it's time to get the show on the road." His mind re-organized itself, as images re-constructed and he calculated what time he was in, and what he was supposed to do next.

 _PING!_

 **New Main Quest!**

 **Back From the Future!**

 **One way or another, you have swum through the flowing river known as time and gained knowledge and insight you did not previously possess.**

 **Prevent history from repeating itself by utilizing your knowledge of events that would occur in time.**

 **Main Objectives** **:-**

 **Revive Tsubasa**

 **Prevent Murayama's Fate**

 **Find, befriend and protect Asia Argento**

 **Kill the Anomaly 'Hidan'.**

 **Bonus Objectives** **:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 90,000 EXP! Increased Relationship with the Devil Faction! Increased Relationship with the Angel Faction! Increased Relationship with the Yokai Faction! A new title! A new status! ? ? ? ? ?.**

 **Bonus Rewards: 12,000 EXP per Bonus Objective, + 4500 Prestige points, Gain ability to leave Kuoh, Gain Access to Realm: Underworld, Unlocks: Underworld Jobs, Underworld Quests.**

 **Failure: Certain Death, Game Over.**

 **Time Limit: 13:59:59**

 **Accept this Quest?**

 **[Y/** _N_ **]**

Issei pushed the yes button for the quest and watched it vanish with a silent ping.

The duo walked in complete silence further into the house, up the stairs, down a corridor until they walked into a room. Issei spotted the familiar mop of blue hair that was Tsubasa and slowly walked to her side. It was the weirdest feeling in the entire world, a sense of massive Deja-vu that could not be physically explained. It was like he was living the memory twice, but this time around, he possessed a clearer vision of how everything was and how everything should be.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Race: Devil [Reincarnated]**

 **HP: 0/500**

 **Current Statuses: Deceased.**

Throughout the entire chaos of apocalyptic worlds, fantasy fights, time-travel and arguments about killing death, his mind had been so occupied on so many different things that he had almost completely pushed Tsubasa out of it. He could not be blamed however, in the light of all that had happened, it was perfectly understandable for him to have momentarily forgotten about the girl.

"Ready?" Naruto asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be".

Slowly, Issei placed his palm on the girl's chest and felt the flow of power connect from his Kami's Fingers technique, then, with slight trepidation, he used his Revive technique.

 _PING!_

 **Revive Successful!**

The room was engulfed with white light to signify the technique activating, leaving Issei having to close his eyes for several seconds before he finally opened them to witness a familiar sight.

 **Tsubasa Yura Lv. 14**

 **Title: None**

 **Race: Devil [Resurrected]**

 **Class: Low-Class**

 **Age: 17**

 **Occupation(s): High-School Student**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 500/500**

 **CP: 250/250**

 **Strength: 27**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Dexterity: 14**

 **Intelligence: 17**

 **Wisdom: 14**

 **Luck: 9**

 **Charisma** **:** **10**

 **Current Emotions: N/A**

 **Current Status Effects: Asleep.**

 **Bio: Tsubasa Yura was the [Rook] of Sitri Sona prior to being killed by the Fallen Angel Dohnaseek and resurrected by the Gamer. She has lived a life filled with misfortune and unfortunate circumstances, and as such, despises the notion of becoming someone's servant, or becoming a weak damsel-in-distress. Despite this however, she also seemingly has a very low estimation of her own self-worth.**

 **Likes: The Icha Icha Series, freedom, travelling, good music, spicy foods**

 **Dislikes: Servitude and slavery, trashy romance novels, and vampires**

 **Views: N/A**

 _PING!_

 **Quest Updated!**

 **You have completed a main objective!**

Naruto nodded at his handiwork and turned to the teen. "So what's your next plan of action?"

Issei took in a huge breath of air as he stared at the slowly heaving chest of Tsubasa, her voluptuous bust illuminating the perky nipples of her form through her translucent material. Then, like a dam had been burst, images formed rapidly in his head, ideas and plans began forming with microseconds, each one cross-referencing the next, ensuring that there would be the least possibility of error or of failure.

"Which one do you want to hear first, the long term or the short term?"

Naruto blinked "I suppose the long term will do."

"Well in the long term, I need to get stronger." Issei said "Not just by leveling up, but by increasing my main physical stats. Strength, Dexterity and Vitality, these are the stats that have to do with combat prowess."

Naruto glanced at Issei with an expression that was half-surprised and half-sarcastic. "Too bad you can't just pop into a gym and grind all day. Heaven knows what might happen in your absence."

Issei nodded "Exactly. Right now, I'm weak. So far I've only been scaling through with nothing but luck and coincidence." He let out a sigh as he continued "Still, right now there's no time left for me to grind which could increase my strength, so that means for the mean time I don't need to fight hard, I need to fight _smart_."

Issei took in a deep breath "Sure overpowering my obstacles with sheer brute strength would be awesome, but for now, I simply need to outsmart them."

"As great as that sounds" Naruto said "Even if you're the smartest person in the world, if you have pitiful charisma you'll never get anything done."

Issei waved him off "I've already got a plan to counter that problem."

Naruto blinked once more "Don't tell me you have a plan for everything?"

Issei shook his head "No, just a plan for every worst case scenario, every bad case scenario and every moderate case scenario."

"No plan for a good case scenario?"

"The difficulty is hard. Unless that means absolutely _nothing,_ I'm working on the assumption that there is no 'good' case scenario."

"A little pessimistic aren't we?" Naruto inquired.

"Yes, because optimism has been _so_ helpful already." Issei rolled his eyes.

There was a moment of silence, in which Naruto looked at him oddly. "Oi, are you alright?"

Issei rose an eyebrow "Well other than my brain being overworked from planning ways to evade death, acquire immortality, prevent the apocalypse and possibly kill the strongest beings in existence" he gave a faux smile "I'm just peachy."

The blond was not convinced. "You're sounding a bit too… _odd._ What happened to your youthful exuberance? Where did your never-back-down attitude go?"

"It's still there; just buried under a pile of cynicism and realism."

Naruto let out a long sigh "I was afraid this would happen." He gave Issei the strictest glare the teen had ever seen from the usually jovial blond "Issei, promise me now that irrespective of what happens, you will NOT go dark. You will NOT go emo."

"What? You make it sound like I once turned evil and tried to take over the world or something-" Issei sharply noted Naruto's grim expression "Oh."

"Issei, there are people in this world that have immense power, and with it, the potential to do great good. Yet, at the same time, those who have the potential to do great good, also have the potential to do even greater evil."

It had come to Issei's attention, multiple times in fact, as to how easy he could actually use his power to take over the world. He highly doubted that the President of the United States or the Queen of England or even the Prime Minister of Japan were aware of the supernatural things that occurred around them. And even if they did have supernatural guards, Issei had the power of two of the most deadly Sacred Gears in existence, each on their own were capable of slaying gods, but put together? He could slay the slayers of gods. It wouldn't have taken him much effort to find ways to hypnotize political leaders and put them under his spell, for him to be ruling the countries within weeks, and then to take over the world in months.

And that was simply if he wanted to _control_ it. If he wanted to _truly_ take it over, he could veritably do so single-handedly and then lead the world under his own banner, with every country in the world having being unified into one, and with him being the supreme leader, and having every woman in the world wear skimpy outfits for eternity.

This was the heights he could do, and even if he didn't want the burden of ruling the world, he could simply use his powers and rob several banks and then he'd travel to some far off location in the Bahamas and he'd be set for life. The only thing truly stopping him from doing any of these was the fact that the world was ending and there would be no point in running a world that was on the very precipice of destruction.

However, judging by the blond immortal's grim expression, Issei deduced that he had, at some point in the past attempted or possibly succeeded in taking over the world, or perhaps he had simply just gone rogue and tried to annihilate everything in existence.

"Relax" Issei said placidly "I don't think I'm going to join the dark side anytime soon. It's not worth the hassle."

"Not worth the hassle?"

Issei nodded "Too much planning, politicking, back-stabbing and underground dealing going on, and then you have everyone blaming you for all their problems and woes, you have to create plans and provide for your people, and even as a dictator, it's still too much hassle to be really worth it."

There was a pause.

"You know, sometimes I find it hard to believe that you're the same Hyoudou Issei whose only goal in life was peeping on girls and becoming a Harem King."

"Well I suppose that makes two of us."

There was another pause.

"You still love the ladies though?"

Issei hesitated "Actually now that you mention it, girls aren't really that important to me anymore."

There was a third final and longer pause.

.

.

.

.

"HAHAHA! You should see the look on your face!" Issei guffawed loudly as Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"You almost had me going for a second there." Naruto admitted with an exaggerated wipe at his brow.

"It would have been sad if you kicked the bucket and had no one to inherit your fortune from the porn industry." Issei said cheerfully "Especially with the new Icha Icha movies coming out."

Naruto rose an eyebrow "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon," he said smoothly "And how did you know that I'm the creator of the Icha Icha franchise?"

Issei shrugged "The elements in the story, the setting, the names which were conspicuously similar to yours, the characters, the moves, the fact that it has been running for years, with remakes coming on and on over again. The initials on the book match yours perfectly, and I assumed that you were the creator, and you confirmed it."

"I'm beginning to think that you being smart is a very, _very_ bad thing." The blond man shook his head, and managed to look smug "But yes, if you must know, ever since I inherited it from my sensei, I've written and published the Icha Icha works for decades."

Naruto's eyes glinted as he saw Issei's slightly intrigued expression, the sage immediately decided to play it for all it was worth. Comically taking up a dramatic pose, "Do you understand how vastly you pale in comparison to me measly Hyoudou! I have sampled the beautiful Amazonian women of legends and enraptured their sacred places with an unquenchable fire of passion!"

"I have tasted the pleasures of divinity and had Aphrodite herself cast me away from her presence, as she knew, oh so excruciatingly, that as long as I was with her, she would be ceaselessly overtaken by her divine cravings for overwhelming ecstasy!"

Naruto began laughing, his body moving as he took up an extravagantly exaggerated pose of the Thinker, "I am the being who Narcissus fell his gaze upon and cast aside his delusions of perfection, becoming engulfed by jealousy and self-loathing, that he had no choice but to end his own life. So powerful was my spell, that the Greek Gods had history altered, lest my legend grow to surpass theirs!"

"They have called me a heretic, a wife-stealer, and so many other derogatory terms in other to find a pitiful excuse to vent out their inability to do what I have done. To achieve what no mere mortal; nay, what no _man_ has ever done before!" Naruto covered one eye with his left hand and possessed an amused smirk on his face.

"Nay, I am no mere pervert. To call me a mere pervert would be to utterly disrespect the innumerable women who have lost their minds from screaming my name in ecstasy! In the words of the eternal Jiraiya of the Sannin, my sensei – kami bless his soul – I am not a pervert, I am… A SUPER PERVERT!"

Issei had almost expected a brilliant display of fireworks to go along with the declaration and the grandiose speech, but instead, he was content with the giant puff of smoke and the several clones playing kabuki instruments in the background. Tsubasa had stirred slightly in her sleep, but he paid no attention to it and soaked up the drama ham that was Uzumaki Naruto.

Issei wordlessly withdrew a notebook from his inventory "Sign this."

Naruto rose an eyebrow "Are you seriously asking for my autograph?"

He shook his head slowly "Not for me." He pointed over to the sleeping girl "For her. She's a huge fan of your work. I suppose getting an autographed copy of one of your books would be like gold to her."

The room momentarily fell silent.

"You know," Naruto said "I expected more of a reaction from you than this. Some groveling at my feet would've been nice, or perhaps some comical bowing and chanting, or even reciting a ballad to my monument of manliness."

"Your ego is pretty big enough." He sweatdropped "I just thought that doing anything to fuel it would have the same effect as whipping a dead horse."

Naruto crossed his arms "You're no fun." The Uzumaki shook his head "Still, you surprised me there. I didn't realize that you cared so much about the girl."

Issei said nothing, the Gamer's eyes only training on Tsubasa's features steadily, his eyes checking for any signs of irregularities and content to find none.

"Ah well, I'll do you a better one. How about an autographed copy of my latest book, _Icha Icha: Perdition_ and two tickets for the remake of Icha Icha Tactics: The Movie?"

Issei collected the two items and deposited them into his inventory with his a hint of surprise "Doesn't this count as interference or as you changing the future?"

"Nope" Naruto said "The rules governing the curse were very, _very_ specific."

Naruto raised his hand and counted off his fingers "One, I am not to _tell_ the Gamer any _information_ about the future – which is technically the past – that can change the outcome of events to come."

"Two, I am not to _directly_ interfere in the Gamer's battles or fights until a certain period. And I can't _tell_ you what period that is because then I would be breaking rule one."

"And finally three, I am not to _directly_ have a hand in any activity or deed that would greatly change or impact the timeline." Naruto smirked "So, if I were to have accidently taught you how to create tidal waves, and you use the knowledge to wipe out a clan of devils, I did not _directly_ cause the event to occur. So hence, the curse cannot take place."

"That's rather…" Issei paused skeptically "…specific. It's almost like the person who placed the curse _wanted_ you to find loopholes in them."

"Actually" Naruto said "I think that was the trick, to make me think that the exploitable loopholes are a trap, thus preventing me from abusing them."

"That's one hell of a twisted trap" Issei shook his head "Who created the curse anyway?"

Naruto's eyes darkened "An Asshole who takes away people's fun…"

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ting!_

 **Sense Danger has gone up by eight!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by five!**

 **Sense Danger has reached level 50! Sense Danger been upgraded! You can now detect the origins, reasons and distance of Killing Intent towards you or someone else. Range: 15 Meters.**

Issei felt an overwhelming pressure force down on him, compelling him to flee as fast as he could and never look back, telling him that his existence was in peril, and telling him that death was a certainty should he not run. The entire room shook, as though a vengeful wind had blown past or as though a sudden earthquake had occurred, the violent shaking of the room threw Issei off completely as he lost his footing and stumbled onto the ground. It was more of being in the midst of a hurricane than anything else as he noticed Naruto's face took on a darker tone and his eyes were no longer visible. "If only he wasn't already dead, I'd have taken great pleasure in ripping him a new one."

Issei was almost sweating at this point ' _Such killing intent!'_

As quickly as the pressure arrived, it vanished. The shaking stopped, and it almost seemed as nothing at all had occurred, as though the blond hadn't just generated enough killing intent to level up his Sense Danger skill _thirteen_ times. The number of times alone was way too ominous to be mere coincidence.

Naruto cleared his throat, "Now, before we waste another chapter of our little adventure on nothing but idle dialogue," Issei gave a confused expression "We've got a fourteen-hours-and-counting time limit to work with."

"Oh by the way, I think my killing intent may have woken up your girlfriend, so good luck with that."

Before Issei could even let out a single word, the Uzumaki had vanished in a flash of yellow, leaving nothing but muffled stirrings and total silence in the wake of his absence.

' _Showoff._ ' Issei thought idly before his mind instantly made a quick deduction. He wasn't one-hundred percent sure, but in the previous timeline, he and Tsubasa had been teleported to their homes by Naruto, thus creating a future where it had taken severely longer for Tsubasa to have woken up, and when she was, she most likely was surrounded by her peerage members.

However, now, she would wake up in a room she did not recognize, inside a house she could not recognize, almost completely naked except for a silky transparent gown, and then stuck inside a room with a teenage boy.

If she could not remember what had happened prior to her arriving here, then the situation would not exactly scream 'I saved your life and brought you back from the dead' but more along the lines of 'I drugged you and took you god-knows-where to do god-knows-what.'

Naruto had known that, and he had left, not to save his own skin, but because Tsubasa would more than likely be more comfortable with the Gamer because she knew Issei or at least – working on the basis that she did not remember the previous night – she knew _of_ Issei, while the blond was a total stranger.

"That crafty son of a-"

Despite what his outward nature may display, Uzumaki Naruto was an individual capable of rapidly thinking on his feet. Hell, in fact, it seemed more likely that Naruto had unleashed his killing intent _because_ he wanted Tsubasa to wake up. Doing so had already changed the events of the future to come; however, he had done it _indirectly._ No matter how sketchy it sounded, Naruto had not unleashed his killing intent on Tsubasa, which would have been direct interference, he had simply unleashed it in anger at someone else, therefore, Tsubasa was simply nearby and happened to be affected was not his fault.

It made perfect sense; it was the only reason Naruto would have to suddenly unleash his full killing intent at the notion of the game maker's identity. This worked perfectly well because he genuinely hated the game-maker, and as such there would be no suspicion if he should ire towards the mention of the person.

Of course he also couldn't tell Issei about the plan, because then it would have become a conscious act to induce a loophole and directly interfere.

Such rapid-thinking and planning was a trait Issei would need immediately if he was going to make his following conversation as un-awkward as humanly possible.

He subconsciously withdrew the hardcover edition of Icha Icha: Perdition from his inventory and his lips curled into a smirk. ' _Perfect!'_

 _~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~_

* * *

At first, all she could feel was pain. It was an overwhelming pain that threatened to consume her entire being, a pain that froze and burned like ice. It felt as though she was being crushed, being squeezed through a narrow tube as he bones were turned to jelly. She felt like as though she was a giant sponge that had been wrung by the hands of Greek Titan, and then spread out under the heat of sun to dry. Every inch of her body burned with a sparkling ting that felt like a million tiny paper-cuts occurring over and over again. The pain was as though her body was being knitted, atom by atom, cell by cell and tissue by tissue. Abruptly, the pain had ended, and she was engulfed in utter nothingness. It was a void that had neither light nor sound nor air, and for a brief few seconds, she felt utmost terror that this would be her afterlife for all eternity. Burning in the deepest parts of hell would be a better alternative to being unable to move in a void of nothingness for all infinity.

It was not her first time dying. No, she had died before, but then, she had at least seen two brilliant gates, one of white shine and brilliance, of purity and regality, that sang with the melodious voices that could drive one to ecstasy. And then the other gate, made with sparkling rubies, ever entertaining the promise of divulging one into their most carnal states, filled with all sorts of beautiful men and women engaged in acts of lust, and tempting her to join them in their fantasies.

As a human, she had been given that choice; to ascend to heaven, or to descend to hell, all based on the actions and deeds she had done in her life. She had seemingly taken such a choice for granted, and she had not chosen in time, and as such, her soul was wrenched back to her body and the choice was made for her as she was brought back to life. Now it seemed that as a devil, there was no such option available. Her fate was to be left in a vacuum of perpetual lifelessness for infinity.

Just when she had given up all form of hope, a woman had appeared out of the darkness. She had been filled with so much joy that if she had been able to move, she would have given the beautiful woman a kiss just for her presence. The being, fair as the rays of the moon on a summer night, beautiful, elegant, yet dressed so casually had seemingly been able to read her mind and then she let out a laugh and shook her head casually. The woman's lips had moved, yet she could hear no sound from it. The woman had smiled, and sighed at the same time, before simply appearing before her tapping her on the forehead.

The woman did however, manage to let out a few words that she heard, though she did not understand.

" _Send Issei-kun my regards."_

There was a brilliant flash like the explosion of a million stars, a wrenching pull like the abrupt stop of a bungee cord, a warm, comforting, almost sensual feeling like as though she was being massaged by the smooth palms of a thousand baby angels and then, she returned to the land of the living. Her ears were able to pick up voices, her nose was able to pick up smells and once more, she re-welcomed the feeling of her own heart pumping blood in her chest.

How had she died? The more she tried to remember, the more clearly her mind tried to reconstruct the images prior to her death. It was only after she heard the words "Icha Icha" had the memories had struck her with the force of a train. She remembered fighting, she remembered being rendered helpless by a fallen angel and an exorcist. She remembered being sent to beguile the young teenage enigma, and then bring him over to the side of the devils, to become a member Sona's peerage. She remembered how easily he had seen through her attempts, and how he had left downtrodden. She remembered the explosion, the smoke, the fire, the brief, one-sided battle that had sharply left her out of commission.

Then she remembered him swooping him and saving her, like some ridiculously awkward and gangly prince out of a fairy tale with a gothic, rebellious princess who had become his damsel in distress. Ultimately, she remembered their kiss, weird and spontaneous as it had been, in the midst of what she had presumed to be her final moments.

Then she remembered the words of the woman cloaked in black. Hyoudou Issei was an acquaintance of Death. Death knew Hyoudou Issei. _Hyoudou Issei knew Death_.

Wasn't he supposed to be a low-life pervert? Admittedly, he had changed quite a bit in a really short time and it had attracted Sona's attention, but how in the world did DEATH, one of the Top Three in the list of the Strongest Beings in Existence, know Hyoudou Issei?

Tsubasa had a feeling that both Sona and Rias truly had no idea with what they were dealing with. And seemingly neither did she.

A small amount of fear began creeping up into her, she had tried to seduce him, kiss him even, someone who Death called affectionately. What if he tried to kill her? Or punish her or something?

She banished the worry from her mind as her eyes slowly opened and rapidly closed as they struggled to adjust to the light. She tried to find the strength to move, while trying to eliminate her fear of the Hyoudou. Her legs acted fully with her commands, and she managed to force herself to an upright sitting position. She was on bed it seemed?

"Tsubasa-chan!" she heard a voice say, and her eyes sharply glanced towards its direction. "You're awake!"

What she witnessed made her question if she had not suddenly been transferred to an alternate dimension, as a figure barreled into her and engulfed her in a comedic weepy hug. Her body went rigid at the foreign contact, as though her veins had turned to live electric wires, she took a whiff of the young man's scent, which was that of crisply burnt flowers. Her ears where rapidly filled with the echo of her own beating heart, and there was a warmth that reached her which made her wonder if only for a moment, if she had died and gone to heaven.

At first, she struggled to identify the strange black-haired teen, but it was only after a few seconds that her mind connected the links and realized that the teen beside her was Hyoudou Issei. Why had he dyed his hair though? How long was she dead?

Wait a minute, Hyoudou Issei? The notorious pervert? Hugging her while she was wearing translucent, see-through clothing, on a bed, in a mysterious house? Now she _really_ believed that she had entered an alternate dimension.

"Get off me you perv!" she stated sharply as she landed a quick punch to the teen's stomach which sent him reeling.

He rolled off the bed and sat on the floor, his eyes covered behind his hair. Tsubasa immediately remembered that this was the man that knew death, and she wondered if she had just made the second worst mistake in her entire life.

Only for the teen to jerk back up and gave her a dashing smile "Ah good punch! I didn't take you for the Tsundere type Tsubasa-chan, but I'll accept your token of love anyway!"

The blue haired devil known as Tsubasa Yura sweatdropped as she glanced at the Hyoudou's sparkling eyes, especially made even creepier with his thumbs up. This was the guy she was scared of?

"What's going on exactly?" she asked, as she had never seen this weird version of the Hyoudou before. When she looked closer, she realized that he looked notably different. His face was more angular, seemingly lost a lot of baby fat and became more refined than normal, if anything, he was looking too much like a cardboard cutout of a bishonen manga hero.

Still, his face was more mature, more shuttered than even before, and slightly more handsome. He now had dark eyes that seemed to hold all the mysteries in the universe, lurking beneath the persona of joyful exuberance. But it was not like she would ever admit that out loud.

"Well you died, but before you did you kissed me, and as such that kiss was able to create a bond of true love that allowed be to bring you back to life!" he said.

There was a pause. Tsubasa's head fell to the side in confusion.

"What." _Is he drunk? He doesn't seem like the type though…_

"Now we are destined to become lovers for eternity, alas, though our pasts differ and though our parents will never agree to our union." He stood up and took a majestic beaming pose, complete with dashing smile, a thumb up and ohmygod was that a sparkle on his teeth?

"What in the world are you-"

It took her all of fifteen seconds for her to finally realize where he was going with this.

 _Two can play this game._

"But then we run away from our clan and village, and become rogue nin in order to have our relationship." She continued.

"But my youthfulness is too overwhelming, and instead, I return to face the challenges placed by your father in order to gain your hand in marriage!"

"But" Tsubasa's lips turned into a smile "You failed the challenges, and as such, you died in a brave attempt to fight for your love."

"And you" Issei grinned "Avenge my death in a glorious battle, you destroy all who harmed your love, and become the Empress of the Continent of Elemental Nations!"

"Then I will build a statue to honor your brave sacrifice as I enjoy my life of celibacy."

"Then you will-" he froze "Wait a minute, that's not how the story is supposed to go!"

Tsubasa laughed, her lungs having slight trouble adjusting from their recent deactivated state, as such making her laugh sound like the unrefined echoes of street performers using empty cans as their percussion instruments. Yet, he rendered her a gaze that made her feel as though her laughter was a live performance of one of Beethoven's greatest symphonies by the master musician himself.

"You really know how to make a girl feel special Hyoudou," Tsubasa said dryly "Somehow revive her from the dead, and then reenact one of her favorite novels."

" _I_? Make _you_ feel special?" he looked at her quizzically "How can I make you feel something that you already are?"

Tsubasa felt her cheeks heat up and her heartbeat suddenly became audible to her ears once more, "Flatterer." She said quickly "Why would you think I'm special?"

"Why would you think you're not?" he countered smoothly.

Her mouth opened to retort, but then it closed shut silently. She wasn't sure what she was to the boy, they weren't dating, they couldn't really be called friends, all she knew was that there was some sort of 'chemistry' and tons of sexual tension between them. She wasn't about to start giving him a list of her insecurities when she didn't even know who he truly was.

"Why did you bring me back?" she changed the topic quickly. She would have asked _how_ he brought her back, but it wasn't as important as the reason he had decided to bring her back to the world. Besides, if Death knew him on a first-name basis, there was a chance that he simply asked her/it for a favor, as insane as the idea might sound.

"Well," he scratched his chin "I just happened to come into possession of two tickets to see the new Icha Icha movie, and the only person I know would love to go see it wasn't alive. Didn't that just suck?"

Even the crickets seemed to have been to baffled by that statement to scratch their legs together, thus leaving the room in total silence as the weight of his words sunk into her head.

"You brought me back to life" she said tentatively "Just so you could take me on a date to the movies?"

"Well there's also the possibility of lunch afterwards, but that depends on whether you're up to it or not."

Tsubasa stared at Issei with sheer astonishment. "That's _it_?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged "What exactly where you expecting?"

There were a lot of things she was expecting, but she dared not utter any of them out loud. She had been expecting him to ask to sleep with her, or for her to become his girlfriend or servant or something utterly perverted in exchange. People just didn't bring you back from the dead for something as trivial as taking you out on a date. Anyone else would simply say 'I brought you back from the dead, hence, you are obligated to become my girlfriend/lover/sex-toy.' She had even expected this from someone like Hyoudou, whose rumors of perverseness presented him as an utterly unredeemable teenager with a long list of sexual deviances.

It was baffling, mind-boggling even. "I don't know," she admitted, rubbing her shoulders awkwardly "I just thought you'd want more out of it." Reviving people from the dead always came at some form of cost, either power-wise, time-wise, or investment wise.

"Well there _is_ something else I need you to do."

Her breath hitched. Of course, it was too good to be true. Why in the world would he have revived her if he didn't want something from her? It seemed that he was the same as everyone el-

"What do you say to getting payback on the asshole that killed you in the first place and taking down some extra Fallen Angels along the way?"

Her expression was that of someone who had been told that they had won the lottery. God damn it, who in the world was this guy? He was almost too good to be true.

"Though I'm going to need you to enlist the help of both Rias' and Sona's peerage to do so."

Her expression deflated. "Like those two would listen to anything I have to say; Sona maybe, but definitely not Rias."

He smiled "I'll throw in an autographed copy of the latest Icha Icha novel in for your troubles."

She glanced at him, her eyes gleaming as she saw the copy, and she swooped it out of his hand with speeds that could have possibly broken the sound barrier as her eyes gleamed with unholy fascination. She stroked the book like a long lost relative, opening the first page to find the trademarked specialized font of the stylized 'N.U.' which was the elusive autograph of the books mysterious author.

"You know, if you keep doing things like this Hyoudou-san, I just might end up falling for you." The words were out of her mouth before she knew it.

Issei gave her a smirk, a damnable smirk that she was beginning to hate and love all at the same time. He leaned in closer, once again reminding Tsubasa of the fact that this was the first time she had sat or laid on a bed with someone of the opposite gender, who was in extremely close proximity with her.

"And what makes you think you haven't already?" his words were smooth and flowing, as though possessing the same fluidness as syrup.

"And what makes you think I have?" she countered just as easily, now realizing that their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"Well I seem to recall a certain someone so enthusiastically savoring the insides of my mouth not quite long ago"

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks at the accusation "That was due to-"

"Don't get me wrong" he interjected quickly "I wasn't complaining. In fact, I wouldn't be too opposed to it again actually."

Tsubasa laughed as she placed her hands on his shoulders "Of course you would you pervert."

He snorted "Like I need to be a pervert to want a kiss from a beautiful girl".

"So you think I'm beautiful?"

Issei grinned "Haven't we already established this fact already?"

"I know," she said "It still just feels so weird to hear someone call me that."

"Well get used to it," Issei said smoothly "You're going to be hearing it a lot more often."

"Of course," She teased "I wouldn't expect anything less from my Youthful Prince."

"And of course, you'll become strong as my Dashing Empress." Their faces were mere millimeters apart at this point. She could feel his breath on his face, she could take in his scent, his essence, his passion. She didn't even realize when their bodies had become so close together.

"So, tell me" she said in a raspy breath "If this were the Icha Icha novel, what would happen next?"

"I suppose this is the part in which before the hero can kiss the girl, someone or something comes in and ruins the mood."

Tsubasa froze. That wasn't Issei's voice.

The girl and the teen both snapped their heads to the side only to witness the horrific sight of a man dressed in a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and an intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a full-length, red frock overcoat with cape. His skin was as pale as moonlight, his eyes were the color of blood and his grin was as fierce as the very underworld itself.

He let out a soft "Boo."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ _DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~_

Everything had been moving smoothly for Issei. He avoided as much awkwardness as possible, explained to her why he brought her back and was glad she didn't ask why.

In fact, he was certain of a little fun going down in which they'd kiss and then he'd finally, _finally_ get to make out with a girl. Not counting his brief encounter with Yuuma Amano. His plans were laying themselves out layer after layer and then he had thought that nothing could go wrong.

"Boo."

He had thought extremely wrong.

The first thing that had gone through his mind was the fact that he had been unable to sense the man's presence until the man had arrived inside the room.

Sense Danger _could not sense the man until he had already arrived._

That fact alone was the second most frightening thing about the encounter.

"Your story has the Hero and the Princess. I suppose the only thing missing was…"

The most frightening thing was when Issei glanced at him and saw the title and name written directly above his head.

 **The Ultimate Vampire**

 **Alucard Van Helsing Lv. ?**

"… _The Monster_."

In those few moments, Hyoudou Issei realized the truth that would seemingly haunt him for the rest of his life.

He was never going to have a break.

' _That's it goddamn it!_ _Mystify!_ _'_

 **Snarky Response Selected.**

"So the King of Vampires is not only a voyeur, he's also a cock-blocker. Whoop-dee-doo." He said dryly.

The room was silent as Alucard simply blinked at Issei with a confounded expression. Even Tsubasa had glanced at him like as though he had several screws loose in his head.

"Do you get your jollies off on watching other people go at it or were you hoping to join in for a threesome?"

"What?" the lost expression the Vampire possessed was almost gold.

"Well too bad. Tsubasa's mine, and I don't share." He paused "Unless of course she's into that."

"Issei!" she hissed sharply before bopping him over the head.

The Ultimate Vampire reared his head back and let out a bark of laughter as he swayed in place like an eerie phantom.

"Amusing! You amuse me so much human!" he laughed and then shook his head.

"What is it with you 'strongest beings in existence' and amusement?" Issei said "First Death finds me amusing, and now you. Next thing I know, Ophis will be willing to become my side-chick and the Great Red will want to fondle my balls."

Alucard laughed even harder "If this was the old days, I'd have made you my servant and have you serve as my court jester."

"I'll have to pass up on that offer you see." Issei said smoothly "I'm too smart for my own good. I'd probably try to overthrow you for good measure. I'd put garlic in your food, stake in your chest, holy water in your wine and the likes."

The No-Life King continued his bark of laughter, and behind him, Issei could feel Tsubasa tightly gripping his hand in fear. She was smiling, but yet he could sense that she was shivering in terror of the powerful being.

"I have killed men for less than a fraction of the things you have said to me today."

"Geez, are you naturally this uptight or did someone shove a stake up your ass hoping it would kill you, and then it stayed there?"

Alucard's grin became feral "Do you wish to die boy?"

"Heavens no, I'm in no hurry to meet Death again. I already had a long chat with her you see, she's quite fond of me actually."

"Then I suppose she should be happy to receive you once more."

It had been faster than his eyes could follow, _and that was saying something_ because Issei had the Perfect Vision perk, yet, he barely noted when Alucard had drawn his gun and placed the barrel directly against his forehead.

There was no doubt about it, Alucard must have had a perfect or maxed skill in Marksmanship with the sheer speed and efficiency of his draw. Then again, Issei couldn't even see the Vampire's level to begin with, so it was obvious that the being was insanely strong.

And he knew, he _just knew_ that Alucard most likely was one of the anomalies he had to kill. Issei realized that the beings he was up against were insanely stronger than he was, and he truly needed to up the training if he wanted to catch up.

"Cut with the theatrics already." Issei said blandly, "If you truly wanted to kill me you could have done so already. I have been trying to Bind you with my Shadow Control abilities since you entered the room and you simply shrugged them all off. There's something stopping you from killing me I suppose, and I'd like to know what that is."

Most likely he was here looking for Naruto. It was the only plausible reason that the Vampire King would suddenly appear in Naruto's house and then scare some teenagers, unless he was truly and utterly jobless and simply searching for some jolly fun, but Issei found that scenario highly unlikely.

Alucard let out a savage grin "You are truly amusing. You are the first being I have met that apparently has no fear of me whatsoever. Not even in the slightest."

"I'm flattered." Issei said honestly "But I'm going to kill you once I get stronger, and figure out how, so I can't afford to be scared of you."

Alucard guffawed " _You?_ Kill me?"

"Yes. Kill you. And perhaps every single person related to you just in case they come looking for revenge-"

 _Ting!_

No matter how quickly he sensed the danger coming, Issei was helpless to stop the Vampire from grabbing him by the neck and slamming him through the ground, crashing through the wood as they descended down the house and ended up in the living room.

 **-224 HP!**

' _Note to self: Do not ever mention anything about hurting Alucard's family. Or you will seriously regret it.'_

"At first I considered you a meager pest, a mere insect." Alucard said seriously, his eyes glowing red "But now, I suppose I really should kill you for your insolence. Do you have any final words?"

Issei thought sharp and he thought fast, and then the answer came to him rapidly as he yelled at the top of his breath "FUCK YOU!"

When it seemed that there was no response, and the pressure of the Vampire's grip on his neck increased, Issei was planning a last resort move, right up until the room was engulfed by yellow light.

"Oi Language! Issei I said no sweari-! What the hell is going on here?" Issei had never been gladder in his entire life to hear the Uzumaki's voice.

"Uzumaki, I was simply about to eliminate this pest here before you arrived."

"Naruto! This maniac suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started attacking!"

Naruto sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose "Issei, I left you alone for five minutes to get hitched with a girl, and I come back to find you picking a fight with the king of vampires. You're even more hopeless than I thought."

The Gamer frowned "Hey! It's not my fault he-!"

"Save it Issei. Just save it."

There was a flash of yellow and gold, a blur of motion, and then Issei found himself sitting at an opposite corner from where the Vampire King had thrashed him into the ground.

Issei saw The Vampire King blink in surprise and his mind was blown.

 _Naruto moved faster than Alucard could react_. Issei could barely trace Alucard's movement, and yet, Alucard could barely trace Naruto's movement. It was unbelievable to even conceive, and Issei could not believe that beings as fast or as powerful as these men even existed.

Issei was beginning to wonder just how strong the blond sage truly was. Before he could question it, or even say another word, there was another flash of yellow, and he found himself staring at the roof of his bedroom.

There was another flash of yellow and Issei groaned as he felt a weight land upon him suddenly. Blinking, he realized that it was Tsubasa, and she looked confused, and slightly nauseous.

"What. Just. Happened."

Issei opened his mouth to speak but was rapidly beat to it, Tsubasa put her hand out to stop him "Honestly I don't even think I want to know. You're on first name basis with Death, so being enemies with the Vampire King shouldn't even be a surprise at this point."

She shook her head "Who in the world are you?"

"I suppose that is what I'd like to know as well."

Tsubasa turned her head and Issei felt his stomach drop as he spotted his mother standing at the door to his room, with a patronizing smile on her face.

Of course, he had just arrived in his room, in the middle of the night, without following the front door and then there was a half-naked girl straddling him on his bed. His mother was going to want some serious explanations.

"Hyoudou Issei did you dye your hair?!"

Issei groaned as he slammed the back of his head into his pillow.

Today was seriously just not his day.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **: I find it curious, whenever I look back on my plans for this story, and realize that I have not even completed the second arc and I'm already 100,000 words in. I suppose this might end up becoming epic in length, hopefully if nothing stops me from continuing.**

 **And here's a word of advice for reviews: If you have a grievance or complaint, kindly say it in a civil manner please. Then again, this is the internet, where people can fully make use of anonymity to be as brave and as insensitive as they could never be in real life. In either case, I do hope my readers and reviewers can be civil.**

 **Now, the next chapter should be up in the following week hopefully, so kindly R &R and I hope you find this as amusing as I did.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	12. Nothing Is Ever As Expected

**A/N: I would like to apologize to my readers for lying, I know that I said I would update next week, but I had some free time to burn and as such, I felt like updating several days earlier. Hope it's not an inconvenience to you.**

 **Just in case anyone is curious, I was writing part of this chapter while babysitting my 8-year old cousin, and having no choice but to sit down and watch her watch nothing but back-to-back disney movies, from Frozen, to Big Hero 6, to Inside Out to Zootopia. My brain is overflowing with way too much fluffy goodness its almost sickening. Though I have to admit that Zootopia was extremely interesting, Big Hero 6 was touching and Inside Out had an amazing soundtrack.**

 **But who the hell still watches Frozen in 2016?! Now that song keeps playing in my head goddamn it!**

 **Whatever. Enjoy the chapter while I go look for something to burn.**

* * *

 **~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game Of the Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Chapter 11: Nothing Is Ever As Expected**

* * *

 **Two Hours Later…**

 **Sitri House - Kuoh**

 **2:32 AM**

Sitri Sona was a devil who did not like surprises. The young girl pulled her clothes with the elegance one would expect from a princess, slow and almost teasing, with each piece of garment falling silently to floor to leave her naked form standing in all its glory. Her glasses were the last to go and she kept them to the side on a drawer before she gingerly stepped into her bathroom with a mix of frustration and fatigue. Without preamble, she entered into the foamy bathtub with its water that was neither too hot nor too cold and laid her back quietly to rest, as well as to think. It was rather simple, she despised surprises of all kinds and due to her ability to plan ahead, she could think of every possible scenario and create counter-strategies for them, but certain surprises always seemed to occur that she never expected. Unlike her rival Rias, she had liberated herself from the chains of oppression that an arranged marriage would have brought forth. She had mastered herself, mastered her opponent, and mastered the battlefield. Victory had been assured as her opponent could not best her in a battle of the minds, and as such, she simply stated that she refused to be tied down to anyone who was her intellectual inferior. As such, she had proven herself, albeit how minutely the action had been. Yet, even as she knew that her parents were probably still searching for a suitable suitor for her, she would be two steps ahead of the way, ensuring that she was well-equipped to face any challenge that may come her way.

Her black eyes took on a stony expression that was even harsher than her normal stoic appearance as she lazily raised her leg in the air and watched the soap and water slide down her flawless, soft skin. Her mind resumed its train of thought, and especially went to the teen known as Hyoudou Issei who simply had her baffled. His sudden transformation from lecherous, useless pervert, to capable, manipulative teen had been too sudden, too abrupt and it was a surprise she did not like. She was the Student Council President, and despite that title being a mere cover-up, she took the job seriously, going to great lengths to classify, arrange, and organize the bios and information of all students in the academy. There was an order, a system, a status quo if you will, which led things according to the way they should be. It was orderly and well managed, almost entirely self-sufficient and rigid.

That is, right up until Hyoudou took that order and proceeded to distort it beyond conceivable recognition. She could not and would not just sit back and let it happen. It was why she had tasked Tsubasa to track him down, and most possibly seduce him over to her side. She wanted to find out the reason for his sudden change, he had aroused her curiosity, and it would not be sated until it was utterly satisfied.

Sona took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and dove her head under the bath water. It was a futile attempt to berate herself for the fact that she had not been expecting her Rook to die. All things considered, it was a relatively easy task, she wasn't facing a monster or a demon or a stray devil, all she had asked was for the young girl to seduce a teenage boy. Even if she weren't a devil, it should have been a cake-walk. But now, she had felt the surge of power that echoed throughout the city, she had seen the Rook piece appear in her hand, and she knew that apparently something had gone horribly wrong.

She and her peerage along with Rias and her peerage had spent the past four hours running damage control, they had found a blown up supermarket as well as several dead bodies, and they knew that they couldn't just wipe the memories of people to make it seem as though nothing had happened. That would never work, as the families of the deceased would only grow more and more worried and curious as to what had happened. So instead, they had altered memories to make it seem as though a main gas pipe or line had exploded over the supermarket area, and they had quickly fixed the giant crater that was in the middle of the residential districts.

Clearly, there were signs of a battle. Residue holy energy could be felt everywhere, and Sona did not know, nor did she believe that her Rook would have been capable of creating such a crater by herself. Moreover, she could not find the sign of the bodies of either any fallen angel or of Tsubasa, and as such, she could not come to a logical conclusion as to what exactly had transpired.

Sona emerged from the bath water and took a small gulp of air as she let out a miniscule 'tsk' of discontentment. She had informed the rest of her peerage as to the fact that Tsubasa was most possibly dead. They had not taken it well and they were immediately yelling that they needed retribution. They wanted to charge straight in and kill most, if not all the Fallen Angels in Kuoh as an act of vengeance. It would be stupid, pointless and would most possibly lead to a further destabilization of the uneasy truce between the factions. No matter what happened, Sona was not sure she could handle the aftermath of being the one to have sparked the events of another Holy War. Yes, she was reasonably pissed, and of course, the death of a member of her family by a fallen angel could be interpreted as an act of war, but the fact remained that she had nothing but mere speculation to back up her claims. If she were to attack and kill Fallen Angels on the speculation that a Fallen Angel had killed a member of her peerage, the backlash she would receive would be enormous. She needed some form of proof, otherwise any action she took would be rendered invalid and seen as an unjustified provocation.

Sona snapped her head towards the location of the living room where she heard an audible click. She knew that she lived alone, and she was certain that none of the members of her peerage would have returned otherwise she would have felt or sensed them enter. She extended her senses, and she could tell that there was an intruder in her house.

It baffled her, her house was protected by charms and enchantments that would take even certain Middle to High Class Devils several hours to decode and remove. Human burglars should not even be capable of entering her yard, yet, she could swear that the person she had detected was human. Sona climbed out of the bath tub, her naked form glistening with water which trickled down her hair, to her perky breasts, which though may not have been as large or as voluptuous as Rias and Akeno, possessed a form of appeal of their own. The girl grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her form, just being enough to cover her chest and stopping at the middle of her thighs. Similarly, she tied up her hair with a towel to let it dry, and calmly maintained her stoic appearance as she stepped out of the bathroom.

She heard more shuffling going about and she increased her pace, leaving her room, her feet made no noise against the wooden floor as she reached the living room, and peaked within. She had to sharpen her eyesight with Demonic Energy as in the darkness, she could barely make out anyone there. It was as though the being in her living room was a part of the darkness itself, and had very little physical presence of its own. It had taken her a few seconds to finally spot someone with black hair comfortably sitting on her couch, and it looked like… he was pouring himself a drink?

"You have five seconds to tell me who you are and how you got in here."

Had any member of her peerage been present, they would have had the expression of a gaping fish at hearing her remark.

The figure rose up, from her couch stretched, finally making itself more noticeable, before it turned before giving her a small, almost indiscernible smirk "Yo kaichou."

Sona blinked twice at the figure, almost not believing her eyes until she dispelled her magic and hit the light switch, and she did in fact confirm that despite the black hair, it truly was the one person she least expected to meet in her apartment.

"Hyoudou-san?"

* * *

 **Thirty Minutes Earlier…**

 **Location Discovered! Sitri Sona's House! Gained 25 EXP!**

Issei had left home with the aid of his newest and so far one of his coolest techniques, which though was originally quite difficult to get a grasp on, he had managed it well enough to get to Sona's house; which he had found using the Map. The Map was amazing in the sense that it highlighted key locations all over Kuoh for him to explore, it showed possible enemies as icons in red, showed possible allies as icons in blue, and it even showed _possible love interests_ as hearts. It showed shopping malls and store icons as a small cash sign, it showed tattoo parlors as an ink pen, clothing stores as a T-shirt, gambling dens as an ace of hearts, and restaurants and eateries as a bowl of ramen. Locations he knew in Kuoh were automatically updated in the Map, but places he had never been to where left vacant, until he supposed that it was time for him to discover them. Sona's house had only been added on the Map because he knew her, and she appeared as a heart icon on his map, thus, he had been able to trace her residence simply by following the icon.

Issei rose from the shadow of the house like a zombie clawing its way out of the ground and then he shook his head to clear the slight blurriness that came with adjusting his eyes back to light, as well as to clear the feeling of nausea that came with travelling through the Shadow realm. When travelling through shadows, it was almost as though he was on a hoverboard moving steadily without actually moving his legs, and the world around him was in black and white. Also, everyone and everything around him was relatively slower, as though the world was in slow-motion and only he could move in normal time. People could neither see him nor detect his presence, and he was limited to moving only within shadowy areas. In that realm, he could almost instantly move from shadow to shadow, and once he had travelled through a shadow once, he could trace, track and instantly go back to that shadow if need be; be it of people or of objects, though attempting to touch anything would simply bring him back into the real world. So no, he couldn't grope girls while in the Shadow world without them knowing. He _could_ however be hidden within a shadow inside of the female side of a hot-spring and then to enjoy peeping without being caught… just as long as he was okay with seeing naked girls in black and white.

Who the hell was he kidding? Of course he was okay with it. He was Hyoudou Issei goddamn it. Not to mention, once he travelled through a person's shadow, he could instantly appear in their location irrespective of wherever they were at the time. He had travelled through Tsubasa's shadow, not for perverted reasons however, but simply just so he could be able to instantly appear at her side if need be.

Admittedly, he had ripped off the idea for the skill from Naruto's teleportation jutsu that let him vanish and re-appear near instantly, he hadn't worked out the specifics yet, but Issei assumed that the technique utilized some form of marker or relay point which allowed the blond to instantly appear at a location without a second's delay. He still hadn't figured out where the blond had placed the mark on his body though.

Regardless, Issei marveled at how extremely useful the Embrace of Darkness perk truly was, his school uniform had been ripped to smithereens, and as such, he was dressed in a spare outfit of a black leather hoodie with a burnt red stripe as the zipper, a pair of black jean trousers, and finally, a pair of black sneakers. The Embrace of Shadows perk made him practically invisible when utilizing the outfit to move through the darkness of the night, even when he wasn't even traveling through the shadow realm. He was pretty sure he could use this to become the world's greatest assassin if he wanted to.

Not that it would do him any good against people like Alucard who had ways that he would be able to snuff him out. Or who was a pseudo-immortal, and as such the assassination attempt would be completely futile. His mind wandered back to how he had suddenly snapped at the Vampire King for intruding on his personal time with Tsubasa. Had it been the right, logical or sensible thing to do?

No, no it hadn't and he could hear Logic berating him in his mind for it.

Had it felt extremely good afterwards? He'd be damned if it hadn't. Honestly, it was just one thing after another today and _anyone_ would be pissed by how things had been going. Issei wasn't necessarily angry, just somewhat bitter, as when he finally thought he could have some lone time and company in order to forget his woes, the pale-skinned asshole just had to appear and say "Boo" like some cliché phantom from a 1978 horror movie.

So he'd given the Ultimate Vampire a piece of his mind as bluntly as he could possibly do so, and while the results had sent him crashing through a floor and almost possibly killed, it had felt _good_ to get it off his chest.

Shooting the clocks at Naruto's mansion could only do so much.

He did wonder why the Vampire King had gone off in search of Naruto though, as well as how the blond shinobi even knew the being in the first place, but he supposed that it was a mystery that was to be solved for another day.

However, the aftermath of the entire scenario had been one of the most awkward and embarrassing events of his entire life. His mother had begun asking all sort of questions and hounding him about dying his hair, whilst at the same time doting on Tsubasa and then giving her some more decent clothes to wear, i.e giving her lingerie.

This of course, was after Tsubasa had introduced herself to his mother with the three simple words "I'm Issei's girlfriend."

Issei didn't know whether to feel offended as to how his mother had given him a look as though he had made her extremely proud by finally having a girlfriend, which she doubted he would ever have, or to be worried that his mother would let him have a half-naked girl sleep in his room without concern about him doing less-than-stellar things with her.

It absolutely baffled Issei to no small end, after he had explained to her that he simply felt like dying his hair, his mother had simply provided a bra and a pair of underwear for Tsubasa, and then she went back to bed like as though there was nothing out of the ordinary about her teenage son having a barely clothed girl in his room.

As much as Issei hated lying, he had planned an excuse about Tsubasa's parents arguing and about how she just needed a place to stay for the night, but then it turned out that he didn't even need it. He had subtly probed and asked about whether or not she was okay with him and Tsubasa sleeping in the same room, and her response had completely floored him.

His mother had smiled and said, "I know the son that I raised. And even though he sometimes makes mistakes, I know that his heart will always strive to do the right thing."

Issei loved his mother, so after all that she had said and all the trust that she had given him, he had felt that doing anything with Tsubasa in his room would be betraying his mother's trust. And so, his blue-haired 'girlfriend' had instantly gone to sleep on his bed, something about dying and being revived from the dead being thoroughly exhausting.

Issei didn't have that luxury; he had only twelve hours left to complete the quest, so it would be beyond stupid of him to spend his night sleeping. Instead he had snuck off into the night to find Sona's apartment as well as to put into motion the next phase of his plan.

Tsubasa _was_ supposed to help him with gaining Sona's trust, but the girl had instantly gone off to sleep the minute she hit his bed. He didn't hold it against her, he was a damn softie and he probably couldn't be angry at her even if he wanted to. Besides, it wasn't like she knew that he had a fourteen hour time limit to change things in the timeline and complete the quest before the world ended. So he was doing things solo again, but he at the very least assumed that his surprise meeting with the Sitri heir would go over well. He just hoped he didn't regret being optimistic.

Regardless, before he met Sona though, he created new skills he could utilize in combat. His most versatile skill-set was gained from his Embrace of Shadows perk and combining it with the Energy Manipulation skill in order to manipulate shadows to his bidding, thus, he had new moves that where kickass in his own opinion.

 **Shadow Control** **[** **Active & Passive] Lv. Max**

 **This is a skill that grants the User control over shadows limited only by the user's own imagination. Passively increases Dark Magic affinity, Passively increases Demonic Magic affinity, Grants a 25% increase in Dexterity when fighting in darkness, passively makes the user near-invisible when cloaked in dark or hidden by the shadows.**

 **Sub-Skills:**

 **Shadow Step** **[Active] Lv. 11: No one can move faster than their shadow. No one, except you; this skill grants the user the ability to travel through shadows via the shadow realm, entering one shadow and coming out from another one. The user can also instantly travel to the shadow of a location he has previously visited, or through the shadow of an ally the user is intimately familiar with.** **The higher the level, the smaller the shadows the user will be able to travel through and the faster the speed of the transportation.**

 **Shadow Possession** **[Active] Lv. 9: Similar to the Nara Clan of old, you are able to incapacitate your enemies by connecting your shadow to theirs, making them do your bidding and mimic every move you make. This skill inflicts either (Weaken) status effect or (Mimicry) status effect on enemies. However, at lower levels, enemies with strong will or enemies who are vastly superior in level to you are immune. The higher the level of the skill, the greater the control and efficiency of Shadow Bind against tougher foes.**

 **Shadow Bind** **[Active] Lv. 7: You summon tendrils of shadows to rise up from the ground and tie up your enemies, - though it can also be used to tie up your friends if you're into that sort of thing. Inflicts (Immobilized) status effect on enemies. At higher levels, the tendrils become stronger and more durable and can be manipulated to any length or thickness, creating new and intriguing ways to capture your enemies (or friends).**

 **Shadow Anchor** **[Active] Lv. 5: You weigh down the shadow of your enemies or of objects, inflicting upon them the (Slowed) status effect as they find it incredibly difficult to move or be moved. At higher levels, the skill will incapacitate all but only the strongest of enemies.**

 **Shade Screen** **[Active] Lv. 3: You glance into an enemy's eyes and temporarily rob them of their ability to see light, leaving them only able to see nothing but darkness as their companion. Inflicts the (Blinded) Status effect on enemies, and at higher levels, it increases the duration of the effect as well as makes the afflicted party see nightmarish visions in the darkness.**

Five epic Shadow Control skills, plus, Issei had finally learnt the skill ID Create/Escape, having being able to recreate it from his memory of when the blond Uzumaki had done it. It was especially so the teen would never get caught in an Illusion Barrier once more, and as well as for him to be able to create his own personal dimension to train in.

 **ID Create/Escape** **[Active] Lv. 1**

 **A skill used to create and shatter an alternate dimension, or an Instant Dungeon which can house different terrain of all sorts, as well as different monsters for personal battle. At higher levels, the user will be able to change time inside the Instant Dungeon relative to that in the real world, as well as unlock a variety of different unique dimensional possibilities and creatures.**

 **Varieties Unlocked:-**

 **Normal Variety – Time inside is the same as time outside**

 **Types Unlocked:-**

 **Normal Instant Dungeon – Contains no monsters**

And that wasn't even all yet. He had finally gotten around to using the books that had been stored into his inventory.

 **You have obtained a skill book – Advanced Chakra Theory for Morons.**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

 _PING!_

 **Through the greater understanding of your physical and spiritual energies, you have mastered the ways to use Chakra. You have obtained the skill** **Water Walking** **[Active] Lv. 1.**

 **This grants you the ability to walk on water and all forms of liquid as though it were a solid surface, definitely increasing your coolness level by a factor of ten. Maintaining this skill costs and reserves 10% of the User's available Chakra Pool.**

 **Through the understanding of basic ways to control and hone your chakra, you have obtained the ability to use Elemental Chakra. You can now shape your chakra into the element of your choice, and as such you have gained the skill:** **Elemental Mastery** **[Active] Lv. 1**

 **Grants you the ability to shape and form your chakra into different elemental types, granting you both affinities for that element, as well as unique bonuses. At higher levels, you may be able to blend different elements together in order to create entirely new ones.**

He moved on to the next one.

 **You have obtained a skill book –Basic Fuinjutsu for Dropouts**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

 _Ping!_

 **You have obtained knowledge on the ancient and forgotten arts of seals, the art of using simple calligraphy to defeat mighty demons, the ultimate equalizer of skill and power. You have gained the Skill, Beginner Level Fuinjutsu [Active] Lv. 1**

 **You can now craft storage scrolls!**

A surge of information popped into Issei's mind and he found himself smirking at the newfound information, as well as the limitless possibilities that were now available to him for him to be able to utilize in battle.

He closed his notification and moved on to the last book.

 **You have obtained a skill book – The Nature and You – A Beginner's Guide to Senjutsu**

 **Would you like to learn the skills within this book?**

 **(Y/N)**

 _Ping!_

 **Through the aid of understanding the world around you, your connection with nature, and your in depth ability to manipulate the very energy that makes up the earth, you have gained the skill, Beginner Level Senjutsu [Active & Passive] Lv. 1**

 **Requirements:-**

 **The User must meditate and remain absolutely still for four hours of time in order to fully absorb the natural energy from the world and blend it with the user's own chakra.**

 **In areas with abundant amount of natural energy, or high levels of spiritual or natural connection with nature, the required time is reduced to two hours.**

 **The higher the level of the skill, the fewer the amount of time utilized and the more pronounced the effects are.**

 **Effects:-**

 **Gain the ability to use Senjutsu Chakra**

 **Actively Increases the Range of the Map by 50 Miles**

 **Actively Multiplies Vitality stat by a factor of 5**

 **Actively Multiplies Strength stat by a factor of 5**

 **Actively enhances all sensory organs and skills by a factor of 5**

 **Passively grants the ability to sense energy sources**

 **Passively increases connection with all forms of nature and wildlife, ghouls, spirits, yokai and monsters included.**

 **WARNING: This skill requires has the potential to turn the user to stone, or to turn the user berserk if overused or if the requirement for the skill is not fully completed.**

There was a satisfactory feeling of attaining new skills and abilities, yet Issei knew that he was going to have to put several hours of work into each and every single skill to make them up to par, as well as focus on his tasks for now. Once he had completed his current Quest, he was going to grind like crazy.

For now though, he had equipped his Reluctant Gentleman title which granted a boost in successful social interactions with women, and hoped that the boost provided by it as well as by the Winchester's Descendant perk which granted a boost with supernatural females would be useful in his encounter with Sona.

Issei refocused his mind as he glanced at the door, and as expected, the house was locked. He had tried using Shadow Step to get in, but he kept getting rejected, like there was a barrier preventing him from entering. It was expected though; he would have been utterly surprised if there wasn't any form of magical protection guarding her from intruders. Glancing back to his dilemma of the door, Issei weighed his options. Would he knock? That seemed to be the best option, but honestly, it wouldn't go too well with the plan he had formulated while his mother had been ranting on to him about dying his hair black. Devils were about chaos and spontaneous actions, and while knocking on Sona's front in the middle of the night would be surprising, it wouldn't have as much of an effect as say, suddenly appearing in the middle of her living room. For his plan to work, it needed to be as theatrical as possible, showing off his abilities and selling as much 'mystery' as he could was needed if he wanted any form of cooperation… or he could just go with plan B and use sheer cunning, blackmail and manipulative baddassery. Either way worked.

" _I highly anticipate the sheer levels disaster that will occur from this approach."_

' _Thanks for the wonderful support'_ Issei responded sarcastically.

" _While you're at it,"_ the voice had said. _"Since you're already breaking into her house, why not enter her liquor cabinet and grab a drink, or even help yourself to her showers?"_

' _Don't make me mute you.'_

And of course, Ddraig was back. However, he felt different, he wasn't as cranky, was more talkative, cooperative and sarcastic but he didn't even complain half as much as he did when Issei had talked to him and apologized about the Hallowed Eclipse thing. Something _huge_ had changed, but Issei didn't know what exactly had caused it. Or maybe Ddraig had found him being devastated in their brief exchange against Alucard hilarious and decided to go along helping him. It was the only thing that Issei could think of that he had done differently so far ever since he had returned to the past, other than of course, almost making out with Tsubasa.

Turning back to his current dilemma, Issei took one look at Sona's door and he instantly knew that trying to pick the lock was out of the question, so that left another option, one of which he had been thinking about for ages. He let out a small grin. "I guess it's time to put those loopholes to the test, Inventory." The giant pop up screen of Issei's inventory appeared, but rather than bring out an item, he mentally expanded the inventory until it was the same size of the door. With the aid of a little intelligence and experimenting, he had found out, he didn't even _need_ to say the words for the status menus to appear or for abilities to work. He could simply _mentally_ command the words in his mind and it would have the same effect. He could also mentally control everything about the inventory status that appeared, from its size to the direction it appeared in.

" _Larceny_." He thought softly, and watched as the door vanished into his inventory without the tiniest of sounds. Yes, he could steal items that were even bolted down to something and he had the feeling that if he truly wanted to, and as long as he leveled the skill up enough, he would be able to steal a car or hell, a _house_ and store it in his inventory. Needless to say, that would be epic.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **For thinking of an ingenious way to solve a problem, your WIS has gone up by 1!**

 **Larceny has gone up by 1!**

The Gamer ignored the notifications as he stepped into the house and examined the rather spacious living room. Honestly, it looked like there was no expense spared in the interior design, with dark-red posh leather couches, exorbitant looking tables, a chandelier, vivid paintings of battles on the walls, a bearskin rug laid on the ground, and most notably, a chess board set up on the main table.

Issei gave it all a glance at once before he turned back to replace the door. He opened his Inventory and selected the door, before pushing it in place. Thankfully, it was still locked, and looked completely unhampered with.

Honestly, he had planned what he would do, but he had no idea as to why he had listened to Ddraig's insane comment. He examined the large house, and as expected, he found a liquor cabinet. Curiosity reared his head up and Issei slightly wondered if the Gamer's Mind would let him become drunk. He also idly wondered if Sona drank alcohol, she didn't seem like the type, but he had to remind himself that despite their appearances, they were devils, and he couldn't entirely be too sure as to whether or not there was any law against alcohol in the Underworld.

Issei snorted to himself as he realized how silly he sounded. Logic, as he was slowly calling that part of his thought process, had dictated to him that it was the underworld and as such devils seemingly had no reason to follow human laws, conventions or morals. Sona could probably drink if she wanted to. She could probably have sex if she wanted to. Hell, she was probably an adult in their eyes. He didn't know about how devils did their thing, and honestly he didn't really care. As far as he was concerned he was a minor and he wasn't supposed to be drinking alcohol. But when you were tasked with a burden as heavy as _preventing the goddamned apocalypse_ , and you of course had to become immortal as well as defeat the strongest beings in existence to do it, something as minor as drinking was nowhere near Issei's list of moral compunctions.

Still though, as much as he wanted to taste the liquor, Issei instead raided her fridge instead for a bottle of water. As he poured it into a glass, he allowed his mind wander. He had done a lot of thinking, and with his newfound ability to think at something near four times the speed of the average human being, coupled with a newfound intelligence, the Hyoudou had sharply seen the pattern. Toujou Koneko suddenly talking to him and Tsubasa's attempt to seduce him had been premeditated, planned and plotted by individuals who thought themselves chess masters of sorts.

 _Do you not realize,_ Logic had said, _that when Sona sees you, she doesn't see Hyoudou Issei the person. She sees a challenge to be overcome, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma. And therefore, her goal is to figure out what makes you tick, what is the reason behind the sudden transformation of a normal teenage boy? Yet, for all her intellect, she cannot fathom an answer. A puzzle she cannot solve because she doesn't have all the pieces. This is her pride, the pride which will not let her stand the fact that there is a puzzle currently above her ability to grasp._

Logic, the new persona of intellect within Issei's mind continued, _And then she realizes, if she cannot solve the puzzle because she does not have all the pieces, then all she needs is to acquire the pieces. Her desire to have you inserted into her group is directed from her desire to gain whatever mysterious strength you possessed that allowed you to defeat Murayama. But I'm sure there was a third, stronger reason for her to develop the need to win you over to her side. I'm certain; a red-haired acquaintance had something to do with it._

 _You must remember this,_ Logic had said with a tone of finality, _they are beautiful, they are soft and seem harmless, they are apparently perfect and flawless in physical appearance, but irrespective of which, they are devils. Devils are beings of utter selfishness, they care for themselves first and everyone else second. They possess greed and pride, and if you are not careful, they will lead you to damnation._

 _Ting!_

 **Danger Detected! Killing Intent Detected!**

 **Origin: Sitri Sona – Behind You!**

The familiar tingling sensation he received whenever his Sense Danger skill activated told him that going through someone's fridge when you were not even invited into said person's home in the first place, was probably not the smartest thing in the world to do. Ever since it leveled up to level 50, the skill acted similar to what one might call a 'spidey-sense' as it directly told you who or what was coming for you, and you should either hightail it out of there or get ready to dodge. In a sense, he had gained a limited form of Extrasensory Perception.

Not that it did him any good if his opponent was insanely faster than he, and left him with no chance to respond whatsoever, as his brief encounter with Alucard could clearly attest to that. He had sensed the vampire's attack coming towards in him in slow-motion, but his body was way too slow to respond.

"You have five seconds to tell me who you are and how you got in here."

Her voice was a lot colder than he was used to, and there was an edge to it that he found amusing on the otherwise stoic girl, but either way, the black-haired teen turned with a glass of orange juice in his hand and let out a small smile.

"Yo kaichou" He said slowly, as he turned around, and had to let his eyes settle on her form… which was half-naked, in a towel, he completely disregarded the fact that there were magic orbs of water emanating from a magical crest just to stare at her barely-clothed flesh. He just had to use Observe didn't he?

 **Sitri Sona Lv. 49**

 **Title: None**

 **Race: Devil [Pure-Blood]**

 **Class: High-Class [King]**

 **Age: 17**

 **Occupation(s): High-School Student, Heir of the Sitri Clan**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 6500/6500**

 **DM: 9050/9050**

 **Strength: 40**

 **Vitality: 71**

 **Dexterity: 39**

 **Intelligence: 103**

 **Wisdom: 74**

 **Luck: 33**

 **Charisma** **:** **69**

 **Current Emotions: Surprised, Curious**

 **Current Status Effects: Soaked (grants bonus ice and electricity damage, reduces fire damage)**

 **Bio: Sitri Sona is the Heir of the Sitri Clan simply due to the fact that the original heir, her sister, became a Leviathan and as such forfeited the position. As such, some have seen her as a mere replacement for the position, due to how she is lacking in the needed power to rightfully claim the clan. Despite this, she works her hardest to prove that she earned the right to be the Clan heir, and so that she can one day be able to stop living in her sister's shadow. Her Dream is to open a Rating Game school that is open to all, irrespective of class, race or prestige.**

 **Likes: Chess, Shogi, puzzles and crosswords, strategy, detective novels and shows, Rating Games, certain roleplay and possibly BDSM(?)**

 **Dislikes: Being second best, losing, dumb individuals, stupidity, being compared to her sister, being underestimated and lack of adherence to the rules**

 **Views: She is wary of you and wonders what you are doing in her house**

"Hyoudou-san?"

As the light switch went on Issei could almost feel the blood rush to his nose at the curious way she had called his name, but he managed to force it down. With the aid of Observe, his eyes could quite clearly make out her form with the accuracy of a high-precision, high-definition camera. Her skin was buttery and smooth, like the perfect frosting of a mirror cake, it possessed a sheen that was only highlighted by the dripping water, a form of which women would both kill and die for. Her long slender legs, her voluptuous thighs, her titillating valley of secrets, that was covered with the bottom half of the towel appeared to his vision as clear as day, like the figure of a goddess of beauty, he found himself mesmerized. Issei's eyes trailed up towards her chest which beat rhythmically, the slow movements of her chest appeared in slow-motion to Issei's vision and he could trace the faintest outline of her heavenly nipples from the towel she had used to cover herself. Several images of him and her entering into the room to engage in R-rated activities flashed across his mind and he found it difficult to forcefully banish them from his thoughts. Using Observe on a half-naked girl was probably the greatest idea Issei had ever possessed. No matter how focused he had to be in order to make this work, no matter how much his Logic berated him for falling for this trap right after he had been warned, Issei was a man, who was also a pervert, and the distraction of a half-naked female form was one he could not defeat.

"My eyes are _up here_ Hyoudou-san."

Issei's mind snapped back to attention at the harsh way she had bluntly reminded him that not only had he illegally entered her house, he was now also checking out her chest and invading her privacy. He didn't even pay attention to how much higher in level than he remembered, due to being distracted by her body. He needed his game face on for this, but for heaven's sakes, why did she have to be so scantily dressed? He would probably never realize the irony in his thoughts.

A quick application of Poker Face saved Issei as he let out an emotionless façade and coughed into his hands. So much for his plans of appearing like a badass, his eyes kept glancing at her form and he could barely focus enough to pass across his point. Thanks to the accelerated thought process though, the entire ordeal as well as all his less than gentlemanly thoughts had occurred in less than ten seconds.

"Why are you in my house Hyoudou-san?"

Irrespective of the fact that time did not slowdown in order for him to deliberate an answer, Issei knew that this was normally where he should have selected a response fitting to the scenario. At that moment, Issei remembered Logic seemed to hand in some much needed words of wisdom.

 _There are no limitations for your ability. Take everything you know about games, and ask, how can I tweak this to make it more epic, or how can I abuse this to my favor in a way so broken that the game producers would feel cheated?_

 _Once you have mastered that art, you have mastered the secret to loopholes._

At that moment, Issei wondered if he could _combine_ certain responses into one perfect, fantastic ensemble.

Hyoudou Issei, the gamer who had travelled through time and stared Death in the face would not be fazed by mere trivialities anymore. He let out a grin, ran his left hand through his black hair and took a small sip of his glass of water with the etiquette of pure-blood prince. Logic was thrown out of the window the second he saw Sona's half-naked, partially drenched form, he knew he wouldn't be able to focus well enough to go on with his main plan, Gamer's Mind or no. So that left plan B.

Issei cleared his throat, "Wow kaichou, I never knew you to be so forward," he stated calmly and dropped his glass of water "but if that's what you wish for, I'll be happy to oblige." In a manner that was as flamboyant as possible, Issei slowly began unzipping his jacket.

"W-what are you doing?" Issei found it amusing to see Sona's semi-flustered expression, especially since she usually had on a persona of stone.

"What do you mean?" he played dumb perfectly. Plan B – _If you can't inspire them with your intellect, incapacitate them with your absurdity._

"Why are you stripping?" she tried to say monotonously, but failed miserably as her tone rose near the end once Issei's shirt dropped to the floor. This was the most emotion Issei had _ever_ seen from Sona. Hell, he was almost certain that this was the most emotion the girl had ever displayed.

It was expected though. Issei was no longer the flabby teen he had been just a couple of days ago, due to the combination of his Dexterity and Vitality stats, his body had gained a significant amount of muscle mass. While he did not possess as much muscle as say, a body-builder, he could hold his own as the outline of four-packs of abs were slowly forming on his stomach. He looked much more like a professional athlete and acrobat than a steroid junky who did nothing but lift weight around. His body figure was definitely coming in handy as Sona's eyes had clearly been drawn to it, as much as the stoic girl would try to deny it.

"Shouldn't it be obvious?" Issei asked once more, as he unbuckled his belt and could hear Ddraig roaring with laughter in his mind, until he muted the dragon "We can't do it properly with my clothes on."

It would be the first time Hyoudou Issei had ever seen Sitri Sona's face turn a certain shade of red "Do what exactly?"

"Ah come on," Issei teased "You come in here half dressed with a towel on and you're playing dumb?"

Sona's left eye _almost_ visibly twitched. She took in a deep breath "Firstly Hyoudou, this is _my_ house, so I can choose to dress in any way I wish. Secondly, I had just come out of the showers, and as such, whatever delusional fantasy you have about both of us engaging in anything sexual is purely a fabrication of your overactive imagination."

"Then why are you blushing so heavily?"

Sona's blush increased and her neutral tone was failing "That is because of the unprecedented situation. You'd be surprised to if an attractive female suddenly appeared in your house, and began stripping in your living room."

Honestly, it sounded insane simply saying it out loud. Issei did not back down however, instead his grin increased "Did I just here you call me attractive?"

"Of course not." she said quickly, far too quickly than she should have, and the teen grinned once more.

"It fills my heart with joy to know that you feel this way Kaicho" he said "I also think you're very attractive. How about we hug to share our newfound bond?"

Issei took two steps forward, and then tripped on seemingly nothing but thin air. He almost questioned the insanity of that coincidence happening at that _exact_ moment until he realized why that had happened.

 **Lord of The Gambit provides extra boost to Gutsy Pervert! You now have a 50% chance to perform a perverted action in every social interaction! – [Only applies with Females]**

His perk information was apparently unspecific as to how exactly he would perform the perverted action in every social interaction, but apparently, it would do so by turning him into the walking personification of the 'Lucky Pervert' character trope that was infamous in Harem anime and Manga. Issei was aware of the 'Lucky' or 'Accidental' pervert characters that could simply be walking down a staircase, and then trip, and suddenly fall _up_ the staircase, strip three girls while at it and manage to make them all land in a highly perverted position. Though, if anyone had told him that such an unrealistic event could happen in real life, he would have told the person to wake up or lay off the alcohol.

However, as Issei rolled forward, his hand trying to grasp on to something solid, accidently ending up pulling down Sona's towel and crashing into the girl, and having her naked form straddle his half-naked form in what could easily be mistaken for a 'cowgirl' position, he wondered if he should consider himself lucky or cursed beyond all measure.

Of course his hands just so happened to cup her breasts and he gave them a light, experimental squeeze for good measure.

The moan she let out was all too appealing for Issei's tastes.

 **Gutsy Pervert! Perverted Situation!**

 **You Gain + 2 Vitality, + 1 Dexterity and + 1 Strength!**

Yes, he obtained stat gains for every perverted or sexual situation he found himself in. So making out with Tsubasa would not just have netted him the benefit of actually making out with someone that amazing, or shedding his v-card, he would have also have gotten stronger from it!

And he would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for that stupid Vampire cock-blocker.

Issei's mind re-booted back to the present as he idly noted that Sona's breast size wasn't as big as Tsubasa, but neither was she as small as say, Koneko. She managed to find the right balance between the two, but at the same time, Issei could tell that the girl was slightly insecure about her chest size.

Then his rational mind started working again. Sitri Sona was naked, on top of him, and he could feel the sleeping giant that lay within his boxers slowly stir up. More dangerously rather, he had no idea as to how Sona would react.

Issei's four-digit IQ reduced to simple single-digits when it came to women, he assumed that this was due to God having given men two heads, but only enough blood in their body to use one at a time. Still, what he expected was for Sona to become enraged and embarrassed, to punch him or hit him, and then to go dress appropriately. It is after all, what the normal person would do, or what the normal stereotypical teenage girl would do.

Sona however, was not a stereotypical teenage girl. She was a devil. She was a pure-blood devil who had been raised with pure-blood manners and ethics. She did not have the same thought processes as human teenage girls, being that first and foremost, devils' generally treated their bodies as mere tools and did not hold any significance in nudity. They were originally creatures of carnal lust and desire, and they had flawless levels of physical appearance, so nudity was not a taboo to them as it was in most human cultures.

Despite knowing all this, Issei did not in any world, expect her to lean closer and bring his hand over her chest as she gazed into his eyes with the same expressionless face that she gave every single person.

"Is this what you desire so much Hyoudou-san?" Sona said, slowly gesturing her hand towards her naked breast and body.

Issei's sword was active and he knew that it was directly poking against the sacred entrance of Sona's naked and bare body. Her cheeks were red, and her body showed signs of arousal, but her facial expression and voice still managed to be the same even, expressionless façade.

"To be fair," Issei said "I think this is what every straight, hot-blooded male should want."

He didn't know why it stung so much to see that there was a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes "To enjoy sexual pleasure? Is this all there truly is to you Hyoudou-san?"

He knew fully well that if he wanted to, he could have very well shed his V-card there and then, that he could have had sex for the first time in his life, if he played his cards right and got the right responses. In fact, his mind had conjured a thousand ways to do so, and even more.

However, his goal for meeting Sona wasn't to sleep with her. That, and part of him felt that having sex with Sona right here and now would be a form of betrayal against Tsubasa. So instead, the Gamer decided what would be the best route to follow, and he took it.

 **Poetic Response Selected.**

Issei chuckled and said "To be honest, I myself I'm still trying to find the answer to that question."

He could feel her bare nipples poke against his chest, a droplet of water rolled down from her neck and hung at the soft, tempting pink areola and by god it was driving him crazy. But he needed to think, he needed to reason. So he ignored the fact that the only thing keeping him from penetrating the heavenly entrance of the sexy being in front of him was a single layer of fabric, he ignored the feeling of a girl's wet body against him, even as the touch of her skin sent electric shocks down his spine, and as her breath sent shivers throughout his body that made his hair stand on edge. He ignored her sweet, oh so sweet and tempting aroma that wafted of freshly cut lemons and Aloe Vera, tempting him to blend her womanly perfumes with that of his rough scent of burning dust. And he ignored her eyes, her face that remained completely impassive, yet, her eyes hinted at the possibility that she truly desired something more.

He ignored all this and more, because he knew that there was a time and place for everything and as Hyoudou Issei, the only pride he had was in his chivalry. Without it, he couldn't be called Hyoudou Issei.

 **For making the right judgment call, your Wisdom has gone up by 2!**

"So tell me Kaicho," Issei said, ignoring the notification "Since you are so interested in my desires, what is it that _you_ desire?"

She sounded amused "My desire Hyoudou-san?"

"Yes, your desire" Issei said and sighed "You see, I am a simple man kaicho. My desires are worn on my sleeve, at first glance, it seems that all I want is sexual pleasure from women, but that's not true."

"It's not?" the skeptical tone in her voice was as clear as glass.

Issei smirked "If it were, you'd be on my back right now screaming my name instead of us having this conversation." The gamer shook his head as she gave him another skeptic gaze in response "It's not about the sex, nor is it about me just wanting to have breasts in my hands to fondle."

His look turned serious "No, it's about the connection."

"The connection?" she inquired curiously.

He took in a deep breath and elaborated "Every single day we close up, we hide our true feelings, thoughts and opinions because we either do not want to hurt others or to get hurt in turn. Our clothes and inhibitions reflect this, we restrain ourselves out of fear of social-judgment and disapproval, and as such we 'dilute' our true selves and become a mere facsimile of who we truly are."

Her gaze was locked onto him, and for the first time in a long while, Issei felt slightly self-conscious.

"For most humans," The Gamer continued "When we are like this, when we are naked, we show our true selves, the part of us we keep hidden, the part of us that is private, the part of us that leaves us completely vulnerable, and completely open."

Issei brazenly placed his left hand on Sona's right breast and stared directly into her eyes "We are only comfortable showing our nakedness to those we fully trust, those who can see us truly for who we are, everything is laid out, to either be accepted or rejected. And as such, there is a bond shared, a bond of openness, a connection on a level that is beyond physical."

The girl in turn placed her hand on his chest and Issei closed his eyes.

"Be it when we are naked, or when we are engaging in passionate sex, we show our true nature, what lies beneath. The shy little librarian who you thought couldn't hurt a fly is revealed to a nymphomaniac who can't get enough of sex and the rowdy, hard-boiled female detective you thought was as tough as nails is revealed to be extremely shy and insecure when in bed."

Issei smiled "That's what being naked and appreciating nudity should be all about, that's what being intimate should do; to show who you really are. There are no lies, no pretense, no façades we need to keep up or maintain. We are truthful, we are sincere, and we… we are honest."

The Gamer chuckled, ironically, that was the true meaning of his name. "Issei" was a word which meant "honestly".

Issei tapped Sona on the nose with his right index finger "So what I truly desire kaicho, is to form this bond with as many people as I can. To be 'honest' with as many as those who are willing to open themselves up, and to connect and see people's true self."

"This, kaicho," Issei said "Is why my dream as Hyoudou Issei…" the black-haired teen smirked

"…is to become a Harem King."

 _Ping!_

 **You have discovered a key aspect about your personality, and as to why you are the way you are! Charisma has gone up by 5! Wisdom has gone up by 5!**

 **Poetic Response Selected! Gained 300 EXP!**

There was a pause.

Sona's eyes sparkled with intellectual curiosity of the dangerous sorts, now more than ever. She was clearly intrigued by the man known as Hyoudou Issei. Honestly, the Hyoudou was shattering every expectation she had ever placed on him and layering them over and over again. It was like he didn't have any distinct, strict, or rigid mode of thinking, but his mind and personality could be switched on a dime. She had expected a pervert, and she had gotten one, in fact, she had anticipated that he was simply a shallow individual with nothing but lustful urges.

But, to learn that he actually had a reason for being a pervert, and the fact that he had somehow, someway managed to convince her that it was a valid and noble cause was infuriating, frightening, and the sort of charismatic sophistry one would only expect from a silver tongued politician or a legendary conman. As far as Sona knew, Hyoudou was neither, and yet, she found herself utterly enthralled by his words.

"So now you tell me," he continued smoothly "What is it that _you_ desire kaicho?"

She leveled him a steady gaze "I suppose what I desire is what everyone else desires. Wealth, power, prestige––"

"Recognition?" Issei offered and watched as her eyes widened slightly "To gain recognition for yourself, for your efforts and for your intellect?"

Issei continued "To never be doubted or underestimated and to stand tall and proudly rub shoulders with those who consider themselves to be the best of the best?" then he added softly " _To stop living in someone else's shadow?_ "

"And what exactly," she said sharply "gives you the impression that these are my desires Hyoudou-san?"

"Because," Issei said "You have shown me your true-self."

Sona _almost_ snorted at the notion. Almost. "We have only been naked in each other's presence for a few minutes Hyoudou-san. Do not think yourself arrogant enough to claim that you know everything about me."

"I never claimed to know everything about you" Issei admitted, and then continued "All I have said is this."

Issei closed his eyes "Even if your eyes express emotions they do not feel and your lips express words they do not mean––" Issei placed his right hand on Sona's chest, were her heart lay "This thing inside you, beating and pulsing, it cannot lie."

The room was engulfed by another momentary silence, the boy and the girl who were in a compromising sexual position had seemingly forgotten about that fact as they lay on the wooden floor, one naked, the other almost completely naked as they had a conversation unlike ever before.

"And let's say hypothetically, that these were my desires" Sona said "Tell me Hyoudou-san, what would you do about it?"

"I would do everything in my power to make it happen."

"Why?" She asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice "Why would you do that?"

"It's as I said earlier," Issei grinned "Because you have shown me your true self."

The Sitri heir shook her head in disbelief and let out a soft chuckle, then it went higher into a giggle, and then she found herself laughing, laughing for the first time in the longest she could remember. Issei wondered how the girl could be a devil, when the euphonious sound of her laughter sounded like a serenade of angels, inspired by the nine muses, plucking on the harps of David as the melodious tune reverberated across the world, only to be heard by those whose souls were one with music. Idly, he wondered if such laughter was why Lucifer had been the angel of music.

"Has anyone ever told you Hyoudou-san," she managed to say once she stopped laughing "That you are most possibly the most _amusing_ and simultaneously aggravating individual they have ever met?"

Issei's mind flashed towards Death and Alucard and smiled "Once or twice."

"I suppose now you're right in a way," she admitted "I have never laughed like that in front of anyone before. Not the Student Council, not my parents and not _even_ my sister, yet, you somehow managed to bring out that side of me."

"That's a good thing." Issei said seriously "And I'd advise you not to ever laugh like that in public."

Sona's lips twitched "And why is that?"

"Because after hearing you laugh," Issei said smoothly "It'd take someone with a will of steel to _not_ instantly fall in love with you."

Sona's lips couldn't help but upturn into a smirk "Complementing me while at the same time praising yourself" she shook her head "You truly have the gift of gab Hyoudou-san."

"It's a blessing and a curse" he added jovially.

"I do sincerely hope this blessing of yours," Sona said "Has something to do with 'doing everything in your power to make my desires come true.' How exactly would you go about doing that?"

"Simple," Issei smiled "I have a plan."

"A plan?" she inquired curiously.

"Yes," Issei nodded "This plan has a high amount of risk, but an equally high amount of reward. Should it be successful, you are guaranteed everything you desire and possibly more. Should it fail, you are guaranteed certain death."

"You would have me risk my life Hyoudou-san?"

"These are your desires," Issei said seriously "If you aren't willing to risk your life to achieve them, then they are not worth desiring in the first place."

There was a momentary pause. Sona sighed and then completed rested her body on the bare chest of the Gamer as she stared into his eyes, both of them having becoming completely comfortable with each other's nakedness.

"Fair enough," Sona conceded "So tell me what this grand scheme of yours is Hyoudou-san."

"First, I need to know something." Issei said.

"And that is?"

"Do you trust me?"

She gave him a slightly curious look "Come again?"

"If I tell you to do something so insane, so crazy and life-threatening, do you trust me and my intentions, and that I would mean you no harm."

Sona had to pause for a second "Had you asked me this question an hour or two ago Hyoudou-san, my answer would be a strict and vehement 'no'." she said "But now––"

She sighed "I suppose I _can_ trust you if I deem the situation appropriate, and judge the relative danger and wisdom of your choice."

"But you don't trust me implicitly."

"I'm afraid not." She said "My trust is not that easy to earn Hyoudou-san."

"I suppose it's a start then."

"What exactly is a start?"

"Our relationship of course."

"There is no relationship between us Hyoudou-san"

"See, you're already playing hard to get."

"Your delusions of grandeur are always entertaining to hear Hyoudou-san"

"I don't have _delusions_ of grandeur" Issei said "I have an actual _recipe_ for grandeur."

Sona's lips twitched in amusement "And how exactly does this recipe of yours begin?"

"Well for starters," Issei said "You've been getting pretty comfortable using my body as a teddy bear."

It was true, Sona had been cuddling their naked bodies for a while now, and she didn't seem to be willing to let go anytime soon. So Issei had simply wrapped his right arm around her slender waist, and then ran his left hand through her hair.

"We're both naked. It's cold, and I was recently in the bath. This is just an effective way of conserving body heat." She said without missing a beat.

Issei sweatdropped "I think you'd make a very good career in politics Souna."

"I had absolutely no idea Hyoudou-san. Maybe next year, I should run for a post in the student council; I think the president seat should be vacant."

There was a pause.

"I think hell just froze over, because Shitori Souna actually cracked a joke."

The girl in question simply buried her head and groaned into his chest. "Not another word Hyoudou-san."

"It wasn't really that funny, but pretty good for your first try."

"I really will bite you if you keep talking, Hyoudou-san."

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing."

"Of course you'd find it enjoyable" she would have shook her head if it weren't resting on Issei's chest "You are one truly strange individual Hyoudou-san."

"I think that's one thing that has to go though." Issei said.

"The honorific?" she inquired correctly.

"Adding –san to my name makes me feel like I'm an old man." He said with a grin "Now if you were using the honorific –sama, I wouldn't mind."

"Delusions, Hyoudou-san, delusions."

Issei frowned "Alright, how about just Hyoudou then?"

"As you wish 'just Hyoudou'" She said slyly "Didn't you have some enormous plan to tell me?"

Issei sighed "Who knew the kaicho had such a mischievous streak to her." He shook his head "Alright, I suppose that I'd better get on with telling you the plan then. We've still got school today after-all."

"After you're done" she seemed to pause "Will you still stay, just for a little while?"

Issei regarded the answer within his head. He had only a couple of hours left to save the world from the apocalypse, and every single minute of every single second counted. But at the same time… Sona lived in a huge house all by herself, admittedly even she would feel lonely occasionally.

So would he stake the fate of the entire world against spending company with one of the girls in the world he was truly coming to cherish?

He didn't even need to think twice.

"Of course, I'll do anything for my girl."

"I've already said that I'm not your girlfriend."

" _Yet_."

Sona sighed as she snuggled closer to Issei and the black-haired teen wrapped both his arms around the petite girl. "You truly are one amusing individual Hyoudou- _kun_ ".

"So it's Hyoudou- _kun_ now?" he paused, and glanced at the normally stoic girl who looked so peaceful wrapped in his arms. With her hair down and without her glasses, she was beautiful beyond words could explain. It was true that Hyoudou Issei was a hopeless pervert, but at the same time, he was also a hopeless romantic.

Issei let out a warm smile as he nestled his chin on Sona's head and ran his left hand through her hair. The Sitri heir seemed to have fallen asleep in his arms. He didn't know it yet, but the girl was thoroughly exhausted from erasing and modifying memories as around Kuoh as well as fixing every item or location that had been damaged due to the aftermath of his fight with Dohnaseek.

"Pfft, she says there's nothing between us and then she falls asleep naked in my arms, talk about sending mixed signals."

He had come here to tell Sona that her Rook was still alive, as well as explain to her his plan, and despite not succeeding at either of his goals, he felt oddly satisfied and content with himself. As such, the Gamer decided to sleep for two hours and slowly allowed unconsciousness to claim him. His dreams were filled with images of a blue-haired and bespectacled black-haired girl, and it was one of the most enjoyable naps he had ever taken.

Sometimes, it was good to be The Gamer.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **: Did I actually try to give Issei a valid reason for wanting to become a Harem King other than just "for the boobies!" and so on? Yes, I did. I plan on having Issei eventually have sex in this fic, so his reasons for wanting a harem can't just be played for laughs like in canon because in canon, he can't and he never will have sex with any of the girls. Here, he can, and as such, there has to be a real reason for wanting to become a Harem King, otherwise Issei just becomes portrayed as a total sleaze and man-whore.**

 **And Sona's character intrigues me. I'm surprised that there is very little info on her in the DxD Wikia and she has absolutely no back-story other than the knowledge that she was once engaged but beat her to-be-husband in a game and earned her freedom. For those of you individuals that rarely ever review, (I know you exist cuz I've got over a thousand followers[yay!] but less than 600 reviews), I kindly implore you to make an exception for this chapter and truly tell me what you feel.**

 **Well, Issei's got mad new skills plus the ID Create skill, so the action is going to kick back up from the next chapter.**

 **R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	13. The Art of the Deal

**A/N: Here's a piece of advice. If you have really athletic friends that do crazy stunts and are into parkour, and you're not into it as much as they are, please for the love of god do not fall into peer pressure and try to keep up with them. Because let me tell you from experience, having a broken arm from flopping a landing off a tall height hurts like fucking hell. I'm just glad I didn't break anything else.**

 **On the plus side, I got a cool cast with signatures and a girl i've had a crush on for a while had to feed me due to my lack of elegance in holding a fork with my left hand.**

 **See, life is all about finding the win in the little things.** **Anyway, I managed to type this with one functioning hand for you guys, ain't I the fucking definition of awesome?**

 **Even if it did take several weeks... you have to admit it's still something.**

 **Whatever. Moment of vanity aside, many people can't seem to read past chapter seven of this story due to how dark and crazy it was... oh well, I went back and put a warning in Chapter one. But then again, I suppose if they wish to jump to conclusions before even going forward to see what was in store, then it's their loss and not mine.**

 **You, my loyal readers are still awesome though.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons - Game of The Year Edition**

 **Chapter 12**

 **The Art of the Deal**

* * *

 **Two Hours Later – 4:15 AM**

 **Occult Research Club – Kuoh Academy**

She inhaled.

 _Red._

 _Hair darker than a ripe strawberry; a beautiful intoxicating red like the amaranthine alpenglow of the peaks of Mount Olympus._

 _She was flawless, in all her features, in all her forms and in all her nature. Her smile could melt away the darkness and send the beasts of hades retreating into their shallow crevices from which they shuddered in awe of that which they knew not._

 _My attacker had calmed itself in her presence, it's growl so terrifying and so enraging, that it cast across a large gale of wind that made my hair flutter in the winds._

" _You!" It uttered, rage dripping from every syllable, yet, unable to act as it was obliterated instantly by the power of the crimson goddess._

 _She turned towards me, and I knew instantly who –_ what _– she was before the words had even left her mouth._

" _We need to stop meeting like this, Ichi-kun."_

 _Yes, for all her beauty, for all her charm that turned my heart into a marshmallow and my emotions into a pinball propelled by equal parts desire and repulsion, there was a fact remained true._

 _She smiled, and jet black wings erupted from her back rendering me unable to swallow the lump in my throat._

 _In my presence, was the Devil._

She exhaled.

Tsubasa Yura closed the book with a silent snap.

"Is something wrong Yura-san?" Tsubasa shook her head at the black-haired girl sitting across her.

"Ah, I just read something that struck a little close to home." She said "Nothing to bother you with Himejima-san".

She stretched forward and took a calm sip of her tea and smiled towards the black-haired girl sitting across her. "This is good." She complimented "Whenever I try to mix tea it just ends up tasting like dishwater soaked in leaves."

"Ara ara, we can't have that now." Akeno's eyes crinkled in amusement as her smile remained still "I suppose I could teach you if you're interested."

Tsubasa's fingers fiddled with the cup "I don't want to be a bother".

"It's nothing, I would be happy to help".

Tsubasa simply nodded, as her eyes hurried to look anywhere else, anywhere but the smiling face of Akeno Himejima. The girl was calm, elegant, refined, yet at the same time, she was severally intimidating, even if she did not realize it.

 _Anyone_ who can maintain a smile after a near-stranger randomly shows up on their doorstep and interrupts their sleep for reasons unknown should be considered very, _very_ dangerous.

The blue haired girl turned her glance back into her hands which contained an envelope with a parchment and the signed book giving to her by Issei. Her mind returned her attention to the book as she waited for Rias to emerge from the showers. Icha Icha: Perdition was the latest in a new line of series, she didn't want to be paranoid, but both the context of the entire series as well as the description of a certain character in it was _slightly_ too similar to a certain red-haired devil that the blue-haired girl knew of.

If there was anything she was quickly beginning to understand, it was that in the world of the supernatural, coincidences were _never_ coincidences. The description could not have been a coincidence, and if that was true, it meant that the author of the Icha Icha series was either a devil, or someone who was aware of the existence of supernatural beings, and had met a member of the red-haired Gremory Clan. Most particularly, it's current heir.

Then there was the description of the main character, one that sounded quite a little bit too similar to a certain famous pervert at Kuoh Academy. She _had_ been wondering how Issei had obtained the book in the first place, as the release date was not supposed to be for several weeks, but she never once entertained the possibility that the mysterious author was using Issei as his muse.

The list of mysteries surrounding the Hyoudou seemed to be increasing, and just when she thought she had found an answer, the question changes.

Her attention was returned to the occupant of the room, Akeno was dressed in a daring casual nightgown, which consisted of a transparent silk material, and if Tsubasa's eyes were right, the girl was not wearing any form of lingerie underneath.

"I was under the impression that you were, ah-"

"Dead?"

Akeno tipped her head slightly, an action that would have been mistaken for her simply drinking tea, but was not missed by Tsubasa.

"I _was_."

"So Sona was able to find and resurrect you?"

"No, she wasn't."

"Then how did you-?"

"I don't know _how_." Her tone indicated no room for further questioning.

"I see." Akeno began regarding her differently, and the tension in the room had suddenly increased.

She hadn't been lying, after all she had failed to ask Issei _how_ he had brought her back to life, she did know _why_ and _who_ , but definitely not how. Regardless of the technicalities however, Tsubasa was left in the silence of the room, with the only audible sound being that of the shower running. The awkwardness in the room was almost becoming a tangible force which could be cut with a knife, and it was slowly surpassing the awkward moment that had occurred at the Hyoudou household several minutes ago.

Her cheeks burned at the memory, in which Issei had appeared out of nowhere, cloaked in black and surrounded by shadows and he crawled out of her bathwater. She had wrongly assumed that she was being attacked, thus leading to both of them coming out of the bath and entangling themselves in a pile of limbs that had her sitting on Issei's face. _Naked_.

And of course, his mother had chosen that same moment to walk into the room.

It had taken a while to convince her that they were _not_ doing what she thought they were, even then, Tsubasa was absolutely certain that she would never be able to look that woman in the eye without the memory of the event popping into her mind.

It still baffled Tsubasa as to how in the world it had even happened. _He_ had been the one to fall on _her_ , yet somehow _she_ ended up sitting on _his_ face?

"So, I assume you didn't just drop by for a casual visit?" Tsubasa simply smiled, Akeno was directly fishing for information, and a more reserved way of asking 'Why are you here?'

"I have something for Rias."

"And what would could you possibly have for me," both occupants of the room turned towards the showers, as Rias stepped out with a towel wrapped around her waist and with one in her hair "That you'd come here to deliver it so early in the morning?"

"It's a deal –– well, more or less a contract actually."

Tsubasa handed over to them the parchment, watching as both girls had suspicious looks on their faces.

"I assume this contract isn't yours" Rias said.

"It's from," Tsubasa pursed her lips, internally musing the reason for her sudden aposiopesis – her abrupt pause "Hyoudou-san."

That had instantly caught the attention of both ladies in the room, and their eyes had regarded the paper as though it was on fire. Rias gently took the parchment and opened it.

"Hyoudou-san you say?" Akeno said, her smile still firmly planted on her face "Ara ara, and is there a reason Hyoudou-san couldn't come here in person to deliver this?"

"I believe," Tsubasa said "He was going to 'take care of a few crows'".

The room submerged in a momentary silence. Akeno glanced at Rias but Rias had her gaze firmly on the parchment, and with each and every second, her lips began to spread out into a smile.

"It seems Hyoudou-san isn't as oblivious as we assumed," Rias said, "And it seems he is making some rather huge moves."

"What does the contract say buchou?"

"He's asking for a temporary alliance of sorts," Rias said "Well, calling it an alliance would be a stretch –– he's more or less hiring us to serve as glorified bodyguards and support for a fight he picked."

"And why exactly would we want to agree to his terms?"

Rias' smile increased and she had to air of someone who had received the best Christmas gift they could possibly ask for. "We will agree Akeno," Rias said "Because, in exchange for our services, he is offering a way to annul and/or void my engagement with Riser Phenix."

Akeno's eyes crinkled in surprise "Well now, how does he know about _that?_ " she shook her head "Regardless, there is no guarantee that he can fulfill his end of the deal."

"And there is a clause for that here," Rias said with a laugh "In the scenario that he cannot fulfill his end of the bargain, his soul belongs to me, he becomes a member of my peerage."

"Also," she added "Should I change my mind after signing, or flee during battle, or inform any of the higher-ups, it is considered a breach on my end of the contract."

Rias raised the paper which was signed with Issei's name in blood and the bottom part had a pentagram and a symbol of a reverse-cross "This is an ancient style of contract used by devils and demons," she said "It works both ways, if I fail my end of the deal, my soul belongs to him. If he fails his end of the deal, his soul belongs to me."

It was a quite literally, _a_ _Deal with the Devil_.

Issei was asking for support 'strength', and in exchange, he had to complete a rather challenging task, otherwise his soul is forfeit. Tsubasa could not help but shake her head. She glanced at the parchment and bit the bottom part of her lip. She truly, _truly_ hoped that Hyoudou Issei knew what he was getting himself into.

"So," the blue-haired girl said "Deal or no deal?"

"Deal." Rias said without hesitation and Tsubasa swallowed, wondering why her lips had suddenly gone dry.

"Buchou, are you sure this is wise?" Akeno said as she glanced over the parchment "This deal says nothing about who he is going to be fighting against, or from whom we are supposed to be protecting him."

"Relax Akeno" she calmly regarded her Queen "Between the both of us and Kiba-kun and Koneko-chan, I don't think there's possibly anyone that will wish harm against Hyoudou-san that we couldn't beat."

Famous last words.

Tsubasa Yura did her best impression of a statue as she recalled a certain vampire, and then she remembered the deathly pale woman in black and then she realized her mistake.

It wasn't Issei that didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Tsubasa blinked as she watched her shadow flicker. The shadow of her hand changed into the form of a 'thumbs up', and then it returned to normal.

She smiled, more certain than ever as she watched Rias sign the contract with her blood, and watched as the parchment vanished in a burst of blue fire.

"I think things are going to get rather _interesting_ around here."

She had no idea as to how right she was.

* * *

 **4:55 AM**

 **A Rooftop Opposite Kuoh Anglican Church**

"ID Escape".

There are a lot of different worlds out there, Issei's intellectual persona, Logic noted. There are worlds in which people could win battles against their opponents using nothing but sheer willpower and overwhelming perseverance. There are worlds were the outcast would train harder and harder, until finally, his burning desire to become the greatest would lead him to surpass those who were considered geniuses. There are worlds were battles were a contest of wills, and those with the strongest belief in their friends and loved ones would always triumph, this 'Nakama Power' was the most decisive factor in a battle. And in contrast to these worlds, there are worlds where your belief and willpower meant absolutely nothing if you did not possess the strategic mind, aptitude and ability for battle and warfare.

"ID Create."

Logic was referring to worlds where people were too busy dodging arrows to have the time to converse on the battlefield. These were worlds where your opponent isn't arrogant or stupid enough to proudly tell you about how his technique is the strongest, as to how it is unbeatable, and then to even go as far as explaining how it works.

Abundant stupidity exemplified.

"ID Escape."

No, Issei was fully aware of the common fallacies of these worlds, fictional or not. In general, two opposing parties would appear on a battlefield, and then they would conveniently end up fighting against someone who their styles matched perfectly in one-on-one battles, or the rare and occasional two-on-two skirmishes. It was always convenient as to how the swordsmen of both groups would take each other on, or the martial artists would fight to test their skills, rather than say, doing the logical thing and picking off the weaker sniper, or support members instead of fighting someone that was equal or possibly superior to you.

"ID Create."

That's not even getting into the issue of how annoying it was that some of these warriors would willfully keep back any powerful weapon capable of defeating or destroying an opponent in a single shot and then only use it as a last resort.

"ID Escape."

The Gamer would not be that stupid. He would not leave the fate of the world to something as unreliable or as unpredictable as 'Nakama Power', nor would he pull his punches for the sake of a long and satisfying dramatic conclusion. Perhaps maybe if he were in a tournament, or if he was trying to make a point, or if he was holding back, he would be fully willing and able to do that; but for something as grand as the fate of the whole world? He would ensure victory in any way possible, by hook or by crook.

 _Ping!_

 **ID Create/Escape** **has reached level 5! You now have access to a new type of Dungeon! You can now create Zombie Dungeons!**

 **Note: Due to the game difficulty level selected and the "Apocalyptic Survivor" achievement, these Zombies aren't your typical undead. You have been warned.**

"As tempting as it sounds, I think I'll wait until afterwards before I try this out." Issei said with a roll of his eyes as he mentally dismissed the notification.

For now though, he had been multi-tasking on grinding his skills as he waited on a rooftop next to the Church he knew was filled with several dozen exorcists. Other than the ID Create skill, he had gotten out his school notebooks from his inventory along with a pen, and he had been repetitively practicing creating Storage scrolls. He was going to practice _crafting_ other items afterwards, but for the mean time, he started with storage scrolls.

Admittedly the seals were crude and lacked the elegance one would expect had he used an ink brush and ink well, but thanks to the Ambidextrous perk and his Mr. Renaissance perk, Issei's handwriting as fluid as that of an artiste who had spent years mastering careful calligraphy. He supposed one of these days he would take up art – not _just_ because it would give him a valid reason to have women pose naked in front of him – in order to immortalize people in his paintings.

Using sheets of paper, he had created a functioning storage scroll with it, then he had stored a storage scroll inside that storage scroll, and then stored a storage scroll inside the storage scroll that was inside the storage scroll. Then, he had proceeded to alternatively store both holy and demonic energy in each storage scroll that was inside another storage scroll. It was his plan to have instant access to energy should in case he run dry in the middle of a battle, and he had even congratulated himself for thinking up such a solution that would serve as his "energy potions".

Right up until it had simultaneously imploded and exploded, nearly taking off all of Issei's fingers.

It was a good thing that it had gone off inside his Illusionary Barrier as well, otherwise Issei would have been hard pressed trying to explain to Sona why there was a hole in the middle of Kuoh that was thirteen feet wide and seven feet deep.

Let it be said that Fuinjutsu and chakra did not mix well at all with holy and demonic energy.

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 **Beginner Level Fuinjutsu has gone up by 1!**

 **Beginner Level Fuinjutsu has gone up by 1!**

 **Beginner Level Fuinjutsu has gone up by 1!**

 **Through the repeated process of trial and error, as well as the process of using some items to create another, you have unlocked a new skill! Crafting [Active] Lv. 1.**

 **This skill enables you to create new items, weapons, armor, seals or runes of varying degrees of classes, which range from Poor Common Uncommon Rare Unique Epic Legendary. The elusive classes of item enchantments include: Heirloom, Cursed, Mayhem, and Sentient, these enchantments can only be added to an item of Unique Class or higher.**

 **This skill also enables you to combine items in your inventory.**

 **The higher the level of this skill, the higher the chances of success and the better the qualities of the items created.**

 **Notes: A Perk [Mr. Renaissance] affects this skill; you gain:**

 **75% Bonus Chance to Successfully Craft Items**

 **15% Bonus Chance to Craft Legendary Items**

 **In order to create an item, you must have the requisite materials in order to make it. This includes the materials that make up the bulk of the item, as well as any decoration materials or stitching materials. You can gain blueprints and crafting recipes from defeating certain enemies or purchasing them in certain stores, or, you can try your luck and attempt to craft an item without using a blueprint to gain pleasant and/or unexpected surprises.**

"About time I got this skill," Issei said, closing the notifications and watching as another one popped up instantly.

 **You have crafted a new type of seal!**

 **Darkness and light are not meant to co-exist, similarly, Demonic Energy and Holy Energy are not meant to be blend together imperfectly, and then sealed in the same place. Due to your greater mastery of demonic energy than of holy energy, you blend and seal darkness, light and chakra in a ratio of 5:4:1, thus creating an extremely volatile reaction that detonates in a manner that is not unlike that of antimatter. The more the amount of energy stored, the greater the range and power of the explosion.**

 **Classification - Space/Time Fuinjutsu, Explosive Fuinjutsu, Kinjutsu**

 **Designated Rank – S**

 **Class – [Unique]**

Issei blinked. Fuinjutsu was insanely dangerous, and insanely awesome. Issei had the feeling that he was going to be practicing with Fuinjutsu a lot more frequently in the days to come.

 **What would you like to name the new seal?**

Issei pondered a name for a few seconds, before remembering the brilliant flash of both white and black light that had emitted from the explosion and then he decided on the perfect name.

 **Is the name "Final Twilight" acceptable for this seal?**

 **[Y/N]**

He pushed the yes button.

 **You have obtained the seal "Final Twilight". You can now craft this seal.**

Issei almost chuckled at the irony. He had created the equivalent of a bloody nuke and named it Final Twilight, while planning to protect someone who had the Sacred Gear that was used for healing people and aptly named Twilight Healing. Issei supposed that his mind was more oriented towards finding ways to harm people rather than finding ways to help them. Things like how to fight, how to strategize, how to create traps and lure your enemies into them, these were slowly turning into his bread and butter.

Traps were extremely useful in battle, but extremely tricky and tasking to set up. Some traps however, were easier to bait than others. Issei was of course referring to a certain red-haired devil.

He hadn't gone physically to meet Rias because he knew that there would be very little chance of her accepting the notion that the clueless pervert she knew as Hyoudou Issei could possibly be a genius mastermind plotting the assassination and deaths of some of the most powerful beings in existence, while also manipulating devil politics.

Instead, he had finally gotten the blue haired girl known as Tsubasa to aid him and sent the girl and a document with his signature signed in his blood to serve as his mediator. Signing the document in blood was an ancient method of contract utilized between humans and devils, but it was one that was still acceptable. It ensured that the devil could not break the deal otherwise they would become bound to the human, and that if the human were to break the deal, they would become bound to the devil.

In other words, if he failed to hold up his end of his contract, he became Rias' slave till death does them apart. The contents of the contract were so simple in fact, that he'd have been surprised if Rias _hadn't_ signed it. All it said, was that she and her peerage were to provide back-up to him in an incoming fight, and were not to flee, change their minds nor inform anyone else of the fight in exchange for him finding a way to annulling her upcoming arranged marriage ceremony.

In Rias' mind, the situation was a win-win scenario, because she could effortlessly provide back up for him, but he could not so effortlessly end her arranged marriage. In which case, she would end up having him as a member of her peerage and then she would have him participate in her ingenious plan to end her arranged marriage.

Sona had of course informed him of the fact that Rias would want him in her peerage because the red-haired girl's ingenious plan to prevent her marriage was to defeat Riser – a bloody goddamned Phoenix who had never lost – in a Rating Game. Issei didn't want to brag or get a swelled head, but he was certain that should he use his 'game-breakers' the Boosted Gear and/or his Hallowed Eclipse, Rias and her entire peerage wouldn't stand much of a chance against him, and she believed that she could take down a pseudo-immortal phoenix that had a complete peerage of _fifteen_ people.

The gamer shook his head slightly in pity. He didn't hate Rias, she was drop-dead beautiful and she was the type of girl that guys would kill for, but his cold hard Logic told him that Rias exhibited almost all the signature attributes of a spoilt child. She didn't seem to have truly struggled to attain anything she had in life, more like everything she ever wanted had magically landed on her laps. Rias had never paused to wonder how she and Sona were rivals, when the red-head was blessed with a unique power that Sona did not have, and possessed a unique peerage with potentially powerful members.

Sona's peerage was almost completely made up of regular, run-of-the-mill people that had nothing mind-bogglingly powerful about them. Yet, Sona's peerage could match Rias' peerage because Sona spent hours every day constantly training her mind and intellect in order to improve and gain the strategic proficiency needed to beat opponents superior to them. Issei was 100% certain that if Sona was to have Rias' peerage, and Rias was to have Sona's peerage, and the two should compete against each other, Sona would win so quickly it wouldn't even be considered funny.

Part of him wondered if he was being biased, he had never truly seen Rias in action after-all and was only basing his assumptions on the information he had gathered and perceived from Sona. In which case, The Gamer decided it would be best to see Rias in action first before he made any more judgments on her character or abilities. He sincerely hoped he had not overestimated her, otherwise his plan just might end up completely back-firing.

The Gamer craned his neck as he stared at the crescent moon and stars in the sky and then sighed as he stared back into his Map, indicating a building – a church – that was completely filled to the brim with red dots. He'd left Sona Sitri's place not too long after defeating her in chess, due to her not believing the sanity of his plan. Either way, the girl had finally conceded to it after the teen had won, and now, Issei was moving on the next stage of his asinine plan.

"Stats."

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 24 [57.94%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 980/980**

 **MP: 3750/3750 [Chakra: 1900/1900] [LM/DM: 1875/1875]**

 **Strength: 24**

 **Vitality: 49**

 **Dexterity: 61**

 **Intelligence: 150(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 65 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 12 (+1)(+3)(+47.11)**

 **Charisma: 18 (-1)(+1)(+1.5)(+2)(+3)**

 **Updated Bio: Hyoudou Issei is a quasi-immortal, time-looping teenager whose goal is to become a Harem King; before he can do that he has to settle for the task of preventing the apocalypse. He has fought for centuries beside and against enemies of all types, though he has no conscious recollection of the fact. He must however now use his skills to fulfill his goal of preventing the apocalypse by slaying the Eleven Anomalies, whilst the Shadow of Death watches his every move, waiting for him to falter. Who are the anomalies? And what role does Death truly play in the system of the Exodus Switch?**

Issei mused over his statistics. He had gained an additional +2 Vitality, +1 Strength and +1 Dexterity for his brief moment with Tsubasa, in which his lucky pervert perk activated and made her sit on his face.

It was official, the perk was a godsend.

Regardless, Issei mused over his current stats and deemed that he was suitable enough to continue his plan with them.

He was given fourteen hours to change the future.

He would do it in _seven_.

"All right Ddraig, you ready to do this?"

" _You are one amusing human Hyoudou Issei."_ The dragon said and then chuckled _"But I suppose it's time for the world to remember the terror that is the Red Dragon Emperor._ "

Issei took in a deep breath, channeled chakra into his feet and then leaped into the air, leaving imprints where he once stood as he soared as high as he could. And then as silently as he could, he whispered the name of the second sacred gear in his possession.

"Boos **ted Gear**."

And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

 **Same Time** _ **–**_ **5:05 AM**

 **Kuoh General Hospital**

Sona Sitri did not trust the young man known as Hyoudou Issei. She truly didn't. He was an unknown, an enigma of enigmas, and despite the fact that she would never admit enjoying the feeling of falling asleep in the teen's care, she was still extremely cautious of him. Yet, she could not deny the fact that he was a man of his word as he hadn't touched her in any inappropriate way while she slept - unless she counted his 'morning wood' rubbing against her as inappropriate – but simply wrapped his arms around her and enjoyed her company. When they had woken up however, he proceeded to baffle her even more than she thought was possible. He had explained his plan to her, and she had absolutely doubted all possibilities of it working, as well as calling it insane and asinine. Rather than try to explain to her or pacify her, he decided to let his actions do the talking.

The young devil heiress adjusted her glasses as she stalked through the hospital wards regally, followed behind her were two members of her peerage, her main Pawn Genshirou Saji and her Queen Tsubaki. She was dressed in the classic Kuoh Academy's girls uniform, with the skirt short enough that it would only take the shortest gust of air to reveal the plain pink panties she wore underneath. While she might not have been stunning as her rival Rias or even Rias' Queen Akeno, she managed to draw her fair share of curious glances to outright blatant gawking from both genders across the hospital, from those that were awake that is. Doctors ignored their calling to stare at her figure, nurses glanced over themselves and felt inadequate in their own bodies, and even the sick patients felt cured as they caught a glimpse of her striding through the corridors like a princess from their favorite childhood fairy tale.

Of course one would question as to how she was allowed into the hospital so early in the first place.

Her eyes and expression had returned to their impassive states as she had quickly grown accustomed to having people stare at her. She paid no attention to the gawks of the plebian humans, and instead had her thoughts focused on certain pervert, as had slowly become the norm. She remembered how Hyoudou Issei brought forward her Chess board and had them play in order to prove a point. She had pitied him, believing that he had chosen one of the worst possible ways to try and make a point to her. Right up until they started playing, and she immediately found herself on the defensive from the first move he made as white. The game had continued, she had moved on and gained the advantage, and then lost it, and then regained it. The entire battle had been like a see-saw, the pace switching back and forth until finally, she had _lost_.

Sona Sitri had _lost a game of chess_.

Now Sona was someone who had effortlessly beaten many 'Chess-Masters' in her time of playing the game, and she prided her tactical ability more than anything else, being able to understand the opponent's plan, see through them, analyze her strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately come out on top. So there was no way in the world that she was going to accept losing to someone like Hyoudou Issei.

The first match had taken thirty minutes. She had asked for a re-match. She had lost again. This time, she had lost in _fifteen_. And so it went, with each consecutive match, the time had been cut in half, from fifteen to seven, and from seven to their final match, where he had utilized a _fool's move_ and won in three. He predicted her moves before she made it, made counters and bluffs so accurately that it threw her off her guard, and then he attacked so ferociously, that she was too busy thinking of how to defend or how to anticipate his next attack that she didn't even realize she was being backed into a corner, and she had stopped attacking.

This was the reason why Sona did not trust Hyoudou Issei; the boy was _smart_ , unbelievably so. Or even if he wasn't smart, he had a mind for strategic planning that outstripped hers and it made her feel completely inadequate. Strategy and chess were her bread and butter, the one thing she was known for, defined for, unbeatable at.

For goodness sakes, she had played with masters of all sorts, from Ajuka Beezlebub to even Sirzechs Lucifer, and she had all given them a run for their money, even going as far as to beating them once or twice. _None_ of them had ever beaten her in as short as three minutes.

And so, the teen had made his point and Sona knew within her, that despite claiming her otherwise distrust of the black haired teen, she found herself grudgingly agreeing to this asinine plan of his. _Especially_ after she had found out that he was fully aware of the existence of devils and supernatural beings and wasn't as oblivious to the world around him as she had thought. He knew that she was a devil, and didn't care, he knew all about her peerage, he knew about the evil piece system as well as rating games, and he even had the basic grasp and understanding of devil and underworld politics, culture and lifestyle.

She had of course immediately asked him how he knew that much, and his response was 'A certain blond fox told me.' Sona _hopefully_ wanted to assume that Hyoudou Issei did not know Yasaka, the Queen of Foxes, and her rumored concubine, the mysterious leader of the Yokai Faction. Irrespective of which, she had still offered him a place in her peerage, only for him to decline, admitting that he liked his humanity. And then he had gone ahead and cracked a joke about how it would be horrifically cliché for her romantic interest to be a member of her peerage.

Sona's eyes lit up with slight amusement though her face had remained completely devoid of emotion, as a janitor had paused his mopping of the floor to stop and stare at her, and then a doctor had been gawking at her, not noticing the man's mop until he slipped on it and crashed into the ground. Her pawn had erupted into a fit of giggles and sniggers, and even her Queen could not help the coy smirk that threatened to escape from her lips.

It had reminded Sona slightly of how Issei had tripped on nothing but air as he had stripped aside her towel and landed them in a compromising position. Knowing what she did of the mysterious teenager, she had wondered if his sudden slip had actually been an accident, or if it had been a planned event. She would put it past the clever boy to have staged it.

She shook her head to banish the thoughts. There was a fine line between being cautious and being paranoid. There was a part of her that wondered if his entire approach to her had simply been a simple manipulation of her emotions in order to achieve his goal.

If he _wasn't_ manipulating her, then she'd be honestly surprised, as well as a little flattered that he felt something for her. Though she didn't need a love-interest in her life, she was fully capable of standing on her own, making her own choices, and wasn't dependent on anyone.

If he _was_ manipulating her, then part of her was both impressed and curious, especially to see how far his little game could go, and besides, it wasn't like she also wouldn't be using him for her benefit, so she couldn't truly feel scandalized if he was doing the same.

Admittedly, this was the sort of back-and-forth, battle of minds and wills that she truly desired in a romantic interest. She desired a relationship into a constant push and pull of emotions, an enticing game of complete and total mental and physical seduction. A game in which there could never truly be an end, as each and every victory and loss would be considered as a mere vicissitude in their relationship.

There was no way he would know that of course, was there?

Regardless, even IF – and that was a big IF – she intended on joining his 'harem', she doubted that she wouldn't feel even the slightest bit envious knowing the fact that he also spent his time with numerous other girls, who may or may not be as attractive as she was.

He hadn't bothered lying to her, and had instantly told her that her former Rook, Tsubasa was alive, and under his care.

Sona instantly knew what that meant though. She wasn't stupid, she had done the calculations, and it was obvious that Tsubasa would no longer want to return to her peerage. The Devil Piece system worked in that once she had saved Tsubasa's life, the girl was indebted to her and had to serve her for a fit period of time until she became a high-class devil and garnered her freedom. However, now that Tsubasa was no longer her Rook, there was nothing obligating the girl to return to her peerage as her Rook, and she was literally a 'free-devil'.

Sona had absolutely no complaints with it, Tsubasa had served faithfully and without complaint, as such, she would not pressure the girl to return. It also came as a blessing in disguise, because now she had a free Rook piece available and Issei had given her the next best option, who most possibly had a Sacred Gear.

"Why are we here so early in the morning kaicho?" Saji said with a slight yawn, the boy looked slightly tired, but still alert "Does it have something to do with who you think killed Tsubasa-chan?"

"That reminds me actually," Sona blinked as she adjusted her glasses "I should have informed you; Yura-san is still alive."

Both her Queen and her Pawn stopped walking to gawk at her "What?" Saji blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry buchou, but I thought you just said that Tsubasa-chan is alive?"

"I think I would also like an explanation as well kaicho," Tsubaki, Sona's Queen added respectfully.

"I believe I can help with that, Saji-kun." The trio turned backwards, only to spot the familiar blue hair of their fellow member of the Student Council, as the girl was garbed in a somewhat different looking version of the female-school uniform.

"Speak of the devil," Sona said, her tone clipping and becoming strictly professional "I had assumed that Hyoudou-san requested you to reach out to Rias and her peerage?"

"That he did," Tsubasa admitted "Once I was done, I was free to assist you as he requested."

"And what was Rias' verdict on the matter?"

"She agreed of course."

" _Interesting_ ," Sona said with a pondering countenance, as she noted the utterly confused expressions on Saji and Tsubaki's faces "How exactly did he convince her to aid him? Rias has never been one to do things unless there is some sort of benefit involved in it for her."

"Well," Tsubasa scratched her chin "He signed a contract with her saying that in exchange for her help, he'd find a way to annul and/or prevent her upcoming arranged marriage with Riser Phenix".

Sona couldn't help the small smile that escaped her lips. "Did he now? I suppose that will be something that I am truly looking forward to."

Saji glanced at Tsubasa, and then back to Sona, and then he scratched his head and swayed it from side to side as he let out a grunt of exasperation "What in the world is going on? How are you alive? And what does Hyoudou Issei have to do with anything?"

Tsubasa sighed "This is going to take a while."

* * *

~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~_

 **5:10 AM – Nine Hours Remaining**

 **Anglican Church of Kuoh**

"Stars are beautiful aren't they?" Issei said with a sigh as he gazed up into the night sky, his eyes noting as the clouds moved slowly over the horizon, and the stars glistened in the glorious crescent moon of the night sky. The building he was in was covered with a cloud of dust courtesy of the collapsing roof which allowed him to gaze into the night sky unperturbed, and allowing the rays of the moon to penetrate the form of the dark haired teen.

 **Boost! You have been Boosted to Level 48!**

"It's weird when one thinks about stars in the scientific sense, I mean, they're several light years away and bigger than the earth, but yet, we see them as tiny specks from here." He added glibly as he balanced perfectly on what was previously the statue of a Saint, but had been destroyed, the green orb on the gauntlet of the Boosted Gear giving an eerie glow to the teen's seemingly passive appearance.

No one in the room made a sound as they all turned to stare at the somewhat insane teenager that had suddenly crashed into the church, completely obliterating the ceiling, and then proceeded to talk to them about stars. The gathered exorcists found themselves stunned into silence, as a stray ray of moonlight beamed in from the ceiling and illuminated the teen's form, or rather, it illuminated the fact that the teen's shadow was twisting and morphing into different shapes, the most prominent being that of a massive dragon.

"Ah well, who am I kidding, it's not like you guys can appreciate nature anyway." Issei sighed and extended his gauntleted arm forward "Let's get this over with. Shadow Possession, Shadow Bind."

"What sorcery is this?"

"Gah! I can't move!"

"T-the s-shadows! T-they're a-alive!"

The Gamer's shadow swiftly spread in an arc all over the entire church and simultaneously captured every single person in his Shadow Possession, after which their own shadows proceeded to hogtie all of them up, taking a tangible form as each and every person in the room found themselves on the ground with their hands behind their backs and unable to move.

' _This is the easiest way to know who's who… and if my calculations are correct…_ '

Issei felt three individuals break free of his bond, and smirked as the three women took to the air with their jet-black crow-like wings. As he expected, the Fallen Angels would easily be able to escape from his Shadow Bind by brandishing their wings, thus revealing themselves to him in open air.

 **Boosted Gear Counter Reset! The Ten Second Boost is reset whenever you use a sustained and/or special attack [such as powerful beams, perk abilities, attacks with chakra, mana, and/or Light/Demonic Magic] whereas utilizing hand-to-hand combat will not require a reset. Also, receiving a significant amount of damage will reset the counter.**

 **Increasing the Level of the Boosted Gear will reduce the cooldown time of the reset, as well as make it less for attacks to cause the reset.**

 **Note: Certain Forbidden Skills can temporarily negate this effect.**

Issei blinked at the message. Okay, so he did not know that little fact about the Boosted Gear, but it was just a minor setback, he was still certain that he would be able to complete his mission.

"You!" one of the fallen angels yelled in disbelief "What in the world are you doing here?"

Issei glanced at the Fallen Angel dressed in back strap-like objects resembling leather around and under her breasts, a thong-like piece held around her hips by thee thin straps, gloves that run right up her arms with small lengths of chains hanging from them, shoulder guard-like objects on her shoulders with three large spikes sprouting from her right shoulder and black thigh-high heel boots.

Taking good care not to let his eyes linger to form on what the woman considered as 'clothes' "Ah, long time no see Yuuma-chan," Issei's smile turned into a wider grin as he used Observe "Or is it Raynare?"

' **Yuuma Amano' "Raynare" Lv. 27**

 **Title: None**

 **Race: Fallen Angel**

 **Class: Low-Class**

 **Age: N/A**

 **Occupation(s): Fallen Angel**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 1750/1750**

 **LM: 1550/1550**

 **Strength: 20**

 **Vitality: 33**

 **Dexterity: 24**

 **Intelligence: 23**

 **Wisdom: 19**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charisma** **:** **14**

 **Current Emotions: Surprised, Nervous**

 **Current Status Effects: None**

 **Bio: 'Yuuma Amano' is the alias undertaken by the fallen angel Raynare in her side mission to eliminate Hyoudou Issei due to the potential he possessed to be in possession of a powerful Sacred Gear. She failed in her mission due to certain circumstances, but was instead tasked by Kokabiel to be amongst the team sent retrieve the nun Asia Argento.**

 **Likes: Exhibitionism, BDSM, inflicting pain, sex,**

 **Dislikes: Devils, angels, most humans, losing,**

 **Views: She considers you a dangerous threat**

"Who is this man?" Issei's eyes glanced towards the other two girls and he instantly noted that he did not recognize them.

 **Kalawarner Lv. 29**

 **Title: None**

 **Race: Fallen Angel**

 **Class: Low-Class**

 **Age: N/A**

 **Occupation(s): Fallen Angel**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 2050/2050**

 **LM: 1850/18550**

 **Strength: 33**

 **Vitality: 39**

 **Dexterity: 28**

 **Intelligence: 21**

 **Wisdom: 14**

 **Luck: 9**

 **Charisma** **:** **13**

 **Current Emotions: Wary**

 **Current Status Effects: None**

 **Bio: Kalawarner is a Fallen Angel who has been part of a clique of Fallen Angels but was kicked out due to her aggressive and commanding nature, she instead became close acquaintances with Raynare, and has been working to share her goal of fulfilling Kokabiel's dream. She is amongst those tasked by Kokabiel to retrieve the nun Asia Argento.**

 **Likes: Bloodshed, battles and fights, BDSM, Kokabiel**

 **Dislikes: Devils, weaklings, being commanded**

 **Views: She is extremely wary of you**

Kalawarner was a tall and buxom woman with long, navy blue hair that obscured her right eye. Her attire consisted of a violet, trench coat-like top with a wide collar, a matching miniskirt and black heeled shoes. The trench-coat top was open at her chest, giving view to her breasts and cleavage, and a gold necklace around her neck.

"Raynare-san, isn't this the boy you were supposed to kill?" the smaller one said "He looks kinda cute, in that creepy bad boy kind of way."

Issei sweatdropped as he glanced at the other girl, noting the name written above her head.

 **Mittelt Lv. 25**

 **Title: None**

 **Race: Fallen Angel**

 **Class: Low-Class**

 **Age: N/A**

 **Occupation(s): Fallen Angel**

 **Alignment: Neutral Evil**

 **HP: 1050/1050**

 **LM: 1250/1250**

 **Strength: 19**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Dexterity: 39**

 **Intelligence: 25**

 **Wisdom: 14**

 **Luck: 9**

 **Charisma** **:** **10**

 **Current Emotions:**

 **Current Status Effects: None**

 **Bio: Mittelt is a Fallen Angel who derived pleasure in cosplaying as an innocent little girl in order to lure human pedophiles and lolicons, before brutally murdering them once they attempt to make a move on her. She however despises her small breast size and will kill anyone who makes fun of the fact. She is amongst those tasked by Kokabiel to retrieve the nun Asia Argento.**

 **Likes: Cosplay, roleplay, pretty boys, whips and inflicting torture**

 **Dislikes: Devils, Angels, her chest size, and people who point it out**

 **Views: She finds you interesting [this is never a good thing]**

Mittelt was a girl with blonde hair styled into twin-tails and blue eyes. She wore gothic Lolita attire, which consisted of a black Lolita dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front and a green jewel embedded on the collar, with white thigh-high socks and black shoes. She also wore a large black bow on top of her hair, for which Issei could only guess served the purpose of holding her twin-tails together.

"Hyoudou Issei," Raynare spat out his name as though it was venom "It seems he has unlocked his Sacred Gear."

"I see," a spear of light manifested in Kalawarner's hands "What is it that you want here human? Speak now or prepare yourself to die."

Issei shook his head and let out a long, deep laugh, his eyes lazily scanning across the room to the hogtied exorcists who were struggling in vain to escape their bounds. His fingers lazily drummed around in his pockets, an action that was easily dismissed by the three women as their gaze remained on his laughing form.

"Is there something you find amusing in my demands?" Kalawarner's eyes narrowed.

"Oh nothing," Issei said "I just think it's cute as to how you believe yourself capable of killing me."

"How naughty; it seems someone's a little arrogant," Mittelt said "Don't think that because you managed to capture these weaklings that you are a match for us."

"It's not arrogance," Issei shook his head once more, fingers still drumming in his pockets, no one noticing the shadow of the building come to life "People much stronger than you have tried to kill me and failed. If I actually died fighting against you three, it'd be the most epic fail of my entire life."

All the while Raynare said nothing as she watched the teen very carefully. He was nothing like the perverted moron that had sexually indulged her in the middle of a bridge in public, in broad daylight. It was almost like as though the teen had aged several years in the span of a few hours, but what in the world could he have gone through to make him evolve so quickly?

More important question, why in the world did she care?

Kalawarner was already getting irritated "You are outnumbered-"

 **Boost! You have been boosted to level 48!**

"And _you_ are outclassed," Issei said without missing a beat. He raised his gauntleted arm and stretched it forward in a 'come-hither' motion. "So now can we stop stating the obvious and get down to business, I like to wrap this up as quickly as possible."

Kalawarner bristled as she raised the spear of light and prepared to thrust, only to be stopped by Raynare. "Wait," the barely clothed fallen angel gave Issei the most peculiar expression "What is the reason for your unprovoked attack? Other than my failed attempt to ask you out on a date and kill you, I don't believe we have given you any reason to be hostile to us."

Oh so she was going to kill him afterwards. Not a nice thought.

"Simple," Issei said "Your hat-wearing companion and his exorcist boyfriend hurt someone very close to me. Now, he was able to get away before I could permanently end him, so I suppose you three will serve as a suitable replacement."

 **Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

That wasn't the _real_ reason of course, as Issei wasn't so hung up on something as petty as revenge, but there was no reason to tell them his actual plan. Who was he, a James Bond villain?

There was a grand moment of silence.

"He's the one who attacked Dohnaseek and Selzen?"

"Yes," The gamer rolled his eyes, "Now can we get this ov-"

If Issei did not possess grand stats in dexterity that was boosted by the Embrace of Darkness perk and if he did not possess his Perfect Vision perk and Sense Danger skill, he would have completely missed the moment when the spear of light had departed from Kalawarner's hands and streamed through the air, aimed at him with the ferocity and precision of an arrow shot from a crossbow.

He did however, possess all of the aforementioned abilities, and as such was able to react in time to simply dodge the attack by leaning backwards completely, so that the upper half of his body was completely parallel to the ground, as he watched the dangerous weapon soar over his form, close enough to his body to slice of a single stray hair, before it struck off into the debris behind him and obliterated a portion of it the size of a minivan to dust.

Though he _had_ been intentionally provoking them – because he wasn't certain if he could truly bring himself attack women and their outfits/body figures were making him think less than stellar thoughts, thus clouding his mind – he had not been expecting such a sudden assault.

Needless to say, the battle had begun.

 _Ping!_

 **War Mode – Anarchy's Incarnate temporarily disabled!**

 **You have initiated a skirmish! You have entered a handicap three-on-one battle!**

 **Territorial Advantage – Fallen Angels**

 **Numerical Advantage – Fallen Angels**

 **Psychological Advantage – Hyoudou Issei**

 **Would you like to view the codex entry's tutorial on Acts of Warfare?**

' _Not now!'_ Issei mentally closed the window "Shadow Possession!" Issei drummed his fingers again, and then channeled his control over the shadows, and instantly, the exorcists all around him and rose from their hogtied states as they assembled a defensive formation around him against their own will "Careful where you shoot those things, you wouldn't want to kill all your little henchmen now would you?"

There was a part of him that questioned the morality of using living people, no matter what side they were on, as hostages/meat shields against the fallen angels. That part of him was abruptly silenced when another spear of light struck through the chests of three men he had positioned in his front, one of the spears grazing against his arm, making him wince in pain, but doing no more damage to him whilst erupting a geyser of blood from those that had been sacrificed.

 **-54HP!**

Issei released their control on them, and they literally dropped like puppets cut from a string. Issei wiped the blood against his chin as he glanced to the small one, Mittelt, who had launched the ferocious attack.

"You would kill your own people?"

She shrugged and let out a cheerful grin "If they could be captured so easily by you, they didn't have much value left now did they?"

Damn, for a girl who looked so tame, she was a savage underneath.

"Well there goes that idea." Issei extended his arm out and then commanded the shadows to lift and toss the thirty-something exorcists with as much velocity as he could muster. The men – and possibly women – were sent flying in all directions as though they had been flung through the air by a repulsive wave of pure gravitational energy. Or more accurately, they became human missiles as they connected with walls at speeds no less than fifty miles per hour. Mittelt was nimble enough to dodge the unorthodox attack and Issei tried to stop himself from wincing each time he heard bones break from the impact of living bodies crashing through walls and concrete.

 **Danger Detected!**

Issei's mind put back the possible deaths of other human beings as less important in favor of his imminent survival. His trained eyes noted Kalawarner attempting to flank him from the west side, wielding a long sword made of pure holy energy. The Fallen Angel barely hesitated as she cut through and batted aside her own exorcists in order to get to him.

The Gamer snapped his fingers, being the Quick Slot requirement as Freed Selzen's holy sword materialized in his left hand reverse-grip style. He rose it up and used it to block Kalawarner's attack, the woman's eyes widening as she met up the unexpected resistance. Undeterred, she pushed forward, and turned her blades for an overwhelming overhead strike which Issei found himself hard pressed to defend against as the clash of holy energies produced a large spark and a momentary flare of light that blinded both combatants.

It was a momentary distraction that did not go to waste as Issei instantly caught Raynare stabbing forward with a long spear of light from mid-range, attacking from his east, in which the Gamer rapidly made use of his Dragon Arm to block the incoming attack, fully certain that his Boosted Gear could hold its own against Raynare's spear.

Only for him to wince terribly at the pain on impact; by the gods it stung!

 **Critical Hit!** – **354 HP!**

 **HP: 572/980**

' _Why had that hurt so much – oh!'_

Issei instantly realized his folly. The Embrace of Darkness perk gave him cool control over shadows, and manipulation over darkness, but in exchange he was vulnerable to light based weapons and attacks. He wasn't as vulnerable to it as devils or vampires, and he was immune to holy artifacts and swords, but pure Light based attacks dealt significantly more damage than it should have otherwise.

At that same moment, with one side of him occupied by batting away Raynare's spear, and another side occupied with parrying Kalawarner's sword, he was left completely open to fast paced arrow of light that intended to pierce him its holy essence.

Rather than ponder the seemingly eminent fate of his incoming demise, Issei's mind was rather focused on how the previous sentence could be so wrongly misconstrued if it was taken out of context.

" _Shadow Step_ " he barely whispered the name of the technique as he slunk back into his shadow, evading the trice damned attack and off-balancing both his opponents.

The teen re-emerged out of the shadow of an exorcist that was cast on a wall and simply kicked the cloaked man away as he regarded his opponents with a calm gaze.

"You guys make a good team," he said as he inclined his head towards them, his right-hand fingers still discretely tapping against his pants "Kalawarner over here is the muscle and main close-range attacker, off-balancing her opponents with fast ferocious strikes with her sword, leaving them unable to properly respond when Yuu- Raynare flanks them from behind with her spear from mid-range."

He jerked a finger to the blonde fallen angel Mittelt "And then if the enemy isn't taken out by those two, Mittlet here snipes them down from long-range with her fast-paced spears and arrows. You manage to perfectly cover all the ranges of battle so well that most rookie opponents would probably never stand a chance against all three of you at the same time."

The three stiffened at being called out so casually. ' _He was able to deduce our attack pattern from simply seeing it once?_ '

At the same time, Kalawarner and Mittelt realized that he knew their names without them ever saying it.

Needless to say, their estimation of his threat level skyrocketed exponentially.

Raynare attempted to put on an aura of bravado "So you saw through our strategy, it makes no difference if you can't do anything about it."

"With your Shadow-based Sacred Gear, you picked the wrong enemy human." The navy-blue haired fallen angel added.

Issei's Poker Face hid his emotions perfectly, though his lips still twitched. They were assuming that his Sacred Gear, his gauntlet, was one which allowed him to manipulate shadows, it seemed they hadn't gotten a close enough look yet to realize what it actually was.

Though Kalawarner had a point though, he couldn't use his shadows against them because it was common logic and reasoning, just as rock beat scissors, light beat darkness, and his shadows could be disrupted and dispersed by their light based weapons.

Still, they were actually not much of a match for him shadow control or no. His Sacred Gear had been Boosting and Resetting for a while now with each and every tap of his fingers against his pants, he had been setting the trap that was almost ripe to spring.

The assault continued with an unprecedented sword strike from Kalawarner aimed at his neck, Issei Dodged with a nimble backflip, only to meet Raynare awaiting him with a spear directed towards his midsection. The Gamer utilized the momentum from his backflip to perform a rotating hand-stand with his gauntleted arm, allowing him to Parry Raynare's strike with his exorcist sword. That was when he noticed that he had been set up perfectly for the three arrows of light that were mere centimeters away from impacting his chest, with seemingly no way to respond in time.

'Well shit.'

 _BOOM!_

Debris and a cloud of smoke flew up into the air as the three arrows exploded on contact, obscuring the teen from view as all the Fallen Angels ascended into the air.

"Did we get him?" Mittlet voiced as they didn't see the teen's figure any more.

"Of course, there's no way a mere human could have survived that." Kalawarner added.

"Don't underestimate him" Raynare said "He beat Dohnaseek and Selzen, that's something not even we can do."

"It's nice to know at least one of you takes me seriously."

The three women rapidly turned their attention upward, to find the teen lazily sitting on top of the large hole in the destroyed roof of the church building.

"How in the world did he get up there?!" Mittlet shook her head in disbelief, as the other two were also having similar thoughts.

Issei let out a long sigh "Shouldn't it be obvious? You're nowhere near my level. I've been holding back this entire fight." Issei tossed a stone lazily in his hands "I could have ended this anytime I wanted."

"That's big talk," Raynare said "But we've had you on the defensive all this while".

"That's because I can't really bring myself to hit women." Issei said with a shrug "It goes against almost everything I believe in."

"What a gentleman," Mittlet said dryly "Are you also going to pull my seat back and open the car door for me if we go on a date?"

The stone in Issei's hand struck through and hit Mittlet directly in the forehead causing her to yelp in both surprise and pain "I thought you said you don't hit women!"

"Wait you're a woman?" Issei sounded innocent "I couldn't tell due to the lack of certain notable feminine parts. It's not my fault you're as flat as an ironing board."

"Why you-"

Raynare rapidly moved to interrupt before Mittelt could begin attacking again "What do you want from us?"

Issei smiled "Simple. I was testing you, and you passed."

"Testing us?" Kalawarner said warily "For what purpose?"

"I want you three to betray Kokabiel and join forces with me."

The room could not have gotten quieter if a pink elephant had waltzed in with a rainbow-colored Pegasus.

The three Fallen Angels burst into laughter at the same, taking several seconds to roll in the air while clutching their stomachs. After a while Raynare shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye "You're insane! Why in the world would we listen to anything you say?"

" _ **Fall.**_ "

It was almost as though they had been tethered to an invisible force which had suddenly slammed them onto the ground as the Fallen Angels literally dropped from the sky like mosquitoes. Each had connected with the ground so forcefully that there was no doubt of them having several broken bones and possibly concussions as well. They left imprints in the ground in their respective body shapes as they found themselves unable to move.

Issei's was smiling, it was a friendly happy smile that you'd usually see on the face of a companion, and that was what made it all the more terrifying "It seems there's been an error in communications." He said with an air of nonchalance, as though he was talking about the weather "I'm not _asking_ you to betray Kokabiel, I'm _telling_ you to do so."

"W-what did you do to us? Why can't I move?"

Issei's smile did not waver as he glanced at the fallen angel. "Oh that? Did you really believe I would have barged in here and given away my element of surprise without cause?" the three women had their eyes widen at the revelation "I've been layering my trap for you all from the get-go. It's called Shadow Anchor, I do hope you find it amusing."

Shadow Anchor was technically a move which weighed down the opponent's shadow and made them slower, inflicting the Slowed status effect on them, However, as Issei had realized, the move could be stacked against opponents, doubling or even tripling the effect. The move could also be set in advance, and then triggered on the user's command which would make for excellent counter-attacks and strategies where you momentarily delayed your opponent to land the killing blow.

So what would happen, if he had cast it on his opponent's one-hundred times in rapid succession without their awareness and then triggered it all at once?

The result would no longer be merely slowing your opponent by weighing down their shadow, but rather completely immobilizing them by making them unable to move from the unexpected added weight of their incorporeal imitations.

"Even if you have us defeated," Kalawarner said with venom "You are still insane if you think we are going to betray Kokabiel-sama for the likes of you."

"Are you sure I can't convince you to join the light side?" Issei asked amicably "We may not have cookies, but we've got adventure and friendship and cute girls – you can't ever forget the cute girls."

The three of them just gaped at him.

"Oh, sorry I assumed that you all swung both ways." He said with a pause "We've got bishounen guys too, but that's neither here nor there."

Was this the same guy who had effectively rendered them defeated within minutes?

"That's it! I've had it with you!" Raynare snapped "Are you really Hyoudou Issei? The Hyoudou Issei I knew was a moronic perverted teen without a spark of killing intent in him, not this, insane, dangerous _thing_ in front of me!"

Issei found the whole situation amusing to his tastes, yet, Raynare was not completely wrong. The truth was that he decided to slip into a different persona when fighting, one filled with sarcastic livelihood and wit, one that could be ruthless while also possessing the same type of charm the true Issei had.

This was because he loved battles, he truly loved the thrill of having your blood pumping when you were in danger, of feeling exhilaration when you triumphed over people through your hard work.

And he couldn't have that. No, the more he fought, the more he liked fighting, and the more he sought out a good challenge to become stronger. If he could not restrain that part of him, or at the very least, shift it into another psyche, he knew, he just _knew_ that it would end badly, he knew that it could only end badly.

He had an inherent connection to shadows, and shadows had an inherent connection to darkness. The warning was clear though, what had he expected from a perk named _Embrace_ of darkness? He could still hear the whispers and the dark suggestions, even though he was immune to being controlled by the shadows thanks to Gamer's Mind, it didn't stop the shadows from trying to indulge him in his darker urges, to seduce him with offers.

He had promised Naruto that he wouldn't go to the dark side. And he would keep that promise, even if it meant creating an alternate persona of himself to shield the crazy from truly affecting him.

But Raynare didn't need to know that. No one needed to know that. This was his battle, one that he'd fight on his own.

"Aw Raynare-chan," Issei wagged his eyebrows "Are you sure you're not just upset because I didn't ' _defeat_ ' you the way I did before? That can still be arranged you know."

The Fallen Angel spluttered indignantly "I don't want you going anywhere near me with those hands of yours you lustful bastard!"

"Pfft, you sure didn't feel that way when I made you-"

"DON'T!"

Issei smirked at how quickly she interrupted him. "Alright, I suppose that'll be our little secret" Issei said "Especially if you're up for a repeat performance".

"You wish!"

Kalawarner and Mittelt could do nothing but observe the weird back and forth exchange between the two before the blonde girl finally interrupted "Uh, so does that mean that you're not going to kill us?"

"Kill you?" Issei reared back his head and let out a long laugh that only served to unsettle the women even more. "Oh certainly no, a fate much worse than death awaits you."

" _You're really enjoying this playing the bad guy thing aren't you?_ " a gruff voice echoed within Issei's mind " _Try not to oversell it will you?_ "

'Shush Ddraig, don't ruin the moment.'

" _Picking on three poor defenseless angels, my, what a fine young man you've turned out to be."_

It took all out of Issei's Poker Face not to twitch his eye at the sarcastic remark. Instead he raised his hand and advanced "ID Create – Zombies".

There was a flash of light, and within seconds, Issei could feel himself entering into an alternate dimension through his connection with the shadows. Rather than finding himself in a massive field, or in the same church, Issei stood at the top of a decrepit sky-scraper in the midst of an apocalyptic world. All around them was smoke clouds billing into the sky, upturned cars and tanks, abandoned roads, and even a ruined jumbo jet was spotted crashed into ground. The sky was dark and gritty, the atmosphere seemed to be completely lacking in humidity, and there was a palpable tension abundant in the air. It was the Apocalypse all over again, and the sight steeled Issei's mind to remember that the reason he was doing all this was to prevent such a world from coming to fruition.

Needless to say, the three fallen angels who had been taken along for the ride couldn't get any further scared if it was possible. Especially as how they were very close to the edge of the skyscraper and could fall off at the tiniest of winds.

"What sort of trickery is this?" Kalawarner seemed to be the more vocal of the three, and as expected she was the first to respond to their sudden plight.

Let it be said that Hyoudou Issei was someone who could adapt plans on the fly "This, my dear angels, is my world. A world of death and destruction, a world of utter and complete pain!" Issei cleared his throat, Ddraig was right, he might have been overselling it a little. Honestly he was starting to understand why villains went off on long tangents and expositions or did so much grandstanding. It was actually quite fun once you got the hang of it.

"Or more aptly, this is a separate dimension in which only I can access," Issei said as he glanced to the fallen angels smiled "It's really simple really. Accept my offer and work under me, or I leave you in this pocket dimension for all eternity until you either mercy kill each other, or commit suicide once you can't stand it anymore."

There was an eerie silence at the completely upbeat way he had offered them their deaths.

 _Strike One._

"But then again," Issei said as he stroked his chin "There's always the possibility that my presence is the only thing keeping this dimension together. So if I leave, the pocket dimension collapses, with the three of you stuck inside."

The silence stretched even further.

"In which case," Issei continued "You'd be lost, wandering through time and space for all eternity. You will possibly age up to a million years within a microsecond, and then have the process reversed and repeated for countless eons. It will feel as though each and every one of your cells are being dissected with paper cuts, and you will endure this torture until you eventually live to see the destruction and end of the universe."

 _Strike Two._

There was no silence this time, instead, only the sound of rumbling thunder and growls, lots and lots of growls. Issei had to stop himself from yelling as he spotted them coming at him from the distance, and he couldn't believe it with his own eyes.

It was a **horde**.

Thousands, possibly tens of thousands of the undead, of zombies or walkers or whatever you wished to call them, but it wasn't this that made them terrifying, no, it was the fact that there were all _running_ towards his location on the skyscraper that was the magnificent feat to behold. The creatures where sprinting at mad speeds that would easily hit and surpass forty-five miles per hour, toppling over each other in an attempt to get a piece of living flesh. Their feet pounded against the ground so loudly it could be mistaken for the roaring of thunder, and they charged forward like dutiful soldiers marching to the anthem of the dead.

Then they reached the bottom of the skyscraper and began _climbing_.

 _This_ was what the game meant when it said that the difficulty and his Apocalyptic Survivor accomplishment had affected the ID and changed the zombies within. One thing was certain, Issei was going to enjoy training here.

Okay, the game was making him a little messed up wasn't it?

"Or," Issei said "I could just watch as the horde of zombies that are approaching tear through your flesh and organs and turn you into their next meal, until you resurrect like them." Just for added emphasis, he mused aloud "I wonder if I'd get an award for creating the first ever Zombie/Fallen Angel Hybrids."

The zombies had reached half of the distance of the skyscraper within seconds by climbing on top of each other, and their manic groans and growls were deafening up close.

"Or you can avoid all that and work for me. At the very least, all Kokabiel can do to you for your betrayal is _kill you_." Issei said "I on the other hand…"

One particularly fast zombie grabbed Raynare's leg letting the girl let out a screech of fear before Issei pierced it's skull with his exorcist's sword and flicked the grey matter away as the blade glinted in his eyes.

"…can be very, _very_ imaginative."

 _Strike Three._

The Exodus Switch gave two massive options, if you could not turn your enemies into your allies, then you were supposed to kill them off. While Issei was certain that he could kill all three of them, killing women – and people in general – put a bad taste in his mouth, especially when there where much better, much more reasonable means of making them your allies.

Like blackmail, or coercion, or the threat of their eternal demise and torture.

Hey, it said he had to make them his allies. It didn't specify _how_ he did it, just as long as he did it.

"So ladies!" the gamer yelled just as the horde had finally reached the top, and as the first zombies cast their eyes on the immobilized forms of the fallen angels.

" _Do we have a deal?_ "

As though there was ever any doubt.

~~~~~ _Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~_

* * *

 ** _A/N: S_ o, things are really beginning to pick up here and Rias has no idea as to what she's gotten herself into and we see a bit of Issei's manipulative side. Expect more from Raynare's squad aka "Issei's Angels", as I find it funny as to how they are characters with potential that are never really discussed. Yeah, if it really isn't obvious by now, I like using side-characters more than the main-cast. **

**It's quite fun writing this out, especially with what I have planned. Sadly for aforementioned reasons updates will be kinda slow.**

 **Just in case anyone is wondering, the Zombies in Issei's ID world are a blend of those from the Left 4 Dead franchise, and the infamous World War Z movie. I mean come on! Every single gamer fic out there has Zombies, but which one actually have Zombies that are dangerous? Normal zombies would be cakewalk for Issei once he starts grinding, so hence, the upgrade.**

 **Well, love it or hate it, it's here to stay. Just like me. So now I'm off to see if I can eventually find a way to use my injury to get laid. What? It has to be good for something right? Sheesh.**

 **R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	14. The Man Called Issei

**A/N: I am pleased to announce that my arm has been fully healed and I'll be back to updating much more frequently. That, and this arc has about one or two more chapters before I finally bring it to a close. Thank you for your patience and support, and I do hope you enjoy this chapter. And yes, I'm never going to try parkour in my life again. Ever.**

* * *

~~~~ **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~**

 **Chapter 13**

 **The Man Called Issei**

* * *

 **Kuoh General Hospital**

 **6:13 AM**

Emotions, Murayama thought, were a fickle thing. At first she had judged herself a good master of her own emotions. She had believed herself capable and fully able to control, suppress or maintain her own emotions. She was after all, a swordswoman, a Busujima. She could never be like those girls who would gush over clothes and beautiful dolls, nor would she ever find the true joy in enjoying a shopping trip, or doing her nails, or getting her hair fixed.

Her joy lied in bashing the blunt edges of a wooden blade against the side of an opponent's head and watching as they cowered away from her or as they conceded defeat, and regretted the day they believed they could hold a candle against her in battle. She would stand, valiant and unopposed, as a figure that would continue to triumph, continue to be undefeated.

Admittedly, those choices in her life had left her with a rather sad fate. Girls had seen her as to tomboyish and manly, too much of a brute for fine delicacy like holding tea ceremonies, and they feared that guys would never like that brash headstrong attitude of hers.

She scoffed at them, the likes of those fools, those sheep who were being herded to serve as some fat bastard's husbands, where they would delude themselves into thinking they had accomplished the goals of their life and were happy.

No. Murayama had been a child genius, a prodigy. She was far above that, she was destined for something greater, she was destined for the top, for the heights, she had fought with blood and sweat and tears, she had been knocked down and each and every fucking time she had risen back up and promptly given the middle-finger to the ones who had hit her.

She had won more than her fair share of Kendo Tournaments and competitions, she was manageably fluent in mixed martial arts as well as judo. Her swordsmanship was not the talk of legends, but her family name was infamous for siring some of the greatest swordsmen in history.

Even if everything, even if her entire life had been just her dancing to the tune of a predetermined destiny, even if she was as great as she was only because she had been berated for not being born male, even if she had become a champion just to put a goddamned smile on her father's cold, frigid face, she had done it all the same.

She was phenomenal.

And now, she was destined to fade into obscurity.

This was the true fear of every child genius in history, of every child who has ever had the burden of being known for extra-ordinary feats such as mastering the piano at four, or conquering thirteen languages at age nine, or obtaining a Ph.D. at age twelve.

They didn't have the basic fears of their fellow age-mates, no, their worst fear was eventually growing up into a life of normalcy and obscurity; of eventually having to say "Hey, I was a genius when I was younger" but then having nothing to prove to it.

After all, who cared if you had mastered twelve instruments at the age of nine if you worked a job as a cashier in a music store?

Such was the fate of the world. Those child geniuses you saw everywhere, you could ask yourself, "where are they now?" and almost all the time, you would realize that their brilliance, their excellence, their uniqueness, every and anything that made them shine, had been stripped away by the compounding pressure and expectations.

Ultimately, they became like everyone else; ordinary, obscure and indifferent.

And this too would now be her fate.

Murayama grit her teeth as she wanted to roar out in the world and scream at how unfair it all was. One mistake, one mistake had ultimately changed her life forever. She had made just one goddamned mistake of challenging a pervert who was supposed to be unable to hold a stick properly, and now, now, years of work would be rendered null and void.

She was destined for something more, not to become some housewife for a man who would never truly appreciate her. She scoffed again at the notion, she was being unbelievably optimistic. There was no absolute guarantee that the surgery would be successful, and if it failed, she would either be unable to properly engage in kendo again, or at the very worst, she would be six feet under.

All because of her pride, everything she had worked for in her entire life gone in the blink of an eye because of her pride.

Murayama chuckled; truly, emotions were one hell of a fickle thing.

"A ryo for your thoughts?"

The voice had drawn her from her thoughts with the harsh jerk of one who's soul had been forceful ejected from their body.

Standing at her door, glasses reflecting the dim light of the room, face as impassive as the blank canvas of Da Vinci himself, she cast a rather unique appearance in her dull and lifeless hospital room. She was followed of course by Tsubaki Shinra, whom of course there was a lot of speculation that the two were involved in less _acceptable_ ways.

Twenty-four hours ago, Murayama would have felt honored to be within the presence of these two.

Now?

She wouldn't bat an eyelash if a bloody train were to run over them and turn their entrails inside out.

"What a surprise," she said "To have the Student Council President herself visit me. I didn't think I was that important."

"It is my duty to ensure the safety and welfare of the students Busujima-san."

"Murayama."

"Pardon?"

"Call me Murayama. I don't deserve the surname Busujima, all those who carry that name are swordsmen of acclaim. I wouldn't want to _spoil_ their reputation."

"Interesting," Sona said, not batting an eyelash "I had believed that you were a swordswoman of acclaim as well."

" _I was_." she said, and then pointed to her neck "Even if I survive the surgery, my chances of ever becoming a great swordswoman are about as high as the chances of a prostitute being a virgin."

In the background, Tsubaki stifled a cough.

"Well then Murayama-san," Sona said as the light in the room seemed to flicker "What would you say if I told you that you could regain a full recovery, without any need for surgery and then still become a great swordswoman?"

"I'd say you've been hit a little one too many times by kendo stick."

Sona's lips twitched. "But then what would you do if that promise was real?" she said "What if I told you that you could not only become a great swordswoman, but become one of the greatest in Japan, in Asia, in the world?"

Sona stepped forward and bent her face to stare Murayama straight in the eye "And in history?"

The two orbs of the women stared at each other for an amount of time that seemed to stretch on for eternity.

"Tell me Murayama-san," Sona said "What would you give to accomplish your dreams?"

The girl in question took a deep breath. "Anything."

"Even your soul?"

"M-my soul?" Murayama flinched, her heart rate rapidly increasing as she found it hard to breath in the room. Her chest felt unusually heavy as she stared straight into the cold, unflinching eyes of the woman across her.

"Your soul, your freedom, your every breath down to your last, you will serve, you will fight, for a cause which you know, or for one which is a mystery to you." Sona said "I am not just asking for your services, I am asking for you; your loyalty, your trust, your servitude and your companionship."

"That's a rather steep price."

"An acquaintance of mine told me this," Sona said "These things you wish to accomplish are your dreams. If you are not willing to risk and sacrifice your life to accomplish them, then they were never truly worth gaining in the first place."

Silence claimed the room as its own, leaving only the empty rumble of thunder in the sky above them for sound, and the rapid beating of one girl's heart as she struggled to make a decision that would possibly change her life forever.

"I-I…" she had issues thinking of what to say. Would she take this offer? She didn't even know what the offer entailed, but it was more or less becoming a servant to someone else, selling her soul to the devil in order to attain her dreams.

"So tell me Murayama-san, to accomplish your dreams, to become the best there ever was and there ever will be…" Sona said slowly, the girl's blank eyes possessing a fire in them that Murayama had never seen before.

" _Will you give me your soul?_ "

Emotions, Murayama thought, were a rather fickle thing. When they were fueled into desire, manifested into ambition and engulfed into passion, they became the force that would change the world.

"Yes. I will."

Sometimes however, that change was not for the better.

* * *

~~~~~~ _Dragon of Dragons – Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~_

 **Uzumaki Naruto's Mansion**

 **6:15 AM**

Chandeliers clinked together in response to the external stimuli that was known as the wind. The curtains danced in accord to the breeze, the fabrics easily swaying aside to allow the element gain access into the mansion. Despite its age, the house did not creak, for it had been well maintained to allow such a thing as time to take its tolls on it.

The mansion had seen to the ravages of time, but its current owner was one who had mastered time to an extent of near totality. And so, even as the storm gathered on ahead, the house was as firm as though it had been built on rock, fortified by titanium, coated in adamantium, and refined in vibrainum.

Knowing the eccentricities of its current owner, there was a high chance that such had actually been the case.

"Can you feel it Alucard? Can you feel the storm coming? Can you hear the drums of war beat onwards? Can you smell the flints of the long awaited battle? Can you hear the sweet echo of the beginning of the end? Can you taste the change?"

Uzumaki Naruto was an interesting individual, but even he was feeling incredibly excited. The weather had taken an unexpected turn, and that was something that even he could not predict.

In hundreds of different timelines, he had never failed to predict the weather. Not once. In all the thousands of years he had lived, he had never once failed to predict the weather.

So he was excited. He was thrilled. Little events here and there had completely changed the timeline, things would happen differently from now on, he was essentially running blind once more.

The feeling of not knowing what would happen next was absolutely exhilarating.

"There is something coming," Alucard responded in kind, a manic grin on his face "It makes me a little excited. However, you know that we have more important things to discuss right now Naruto."

"Ah, I miss the good ol' days Alucard" Naruto said "When there was nothing to do but kick ass, take names and get laid. I can't believe you're the responsible one now, four centuries ago, all you cared about was killing vampires, hunting ghouls and getting into insane fights."

"Time tends to change you," Alucard said "Ever since I discovered the rest of the supernatural world and ever since I fought against _both_ Lucifer and Michael, I had no choice but to tone it down or be killed."

"You sure that was what made you tone it down?" Naruto said with roll of his eyes "Maybe I should see what your _daughter_ has to say about that?"

" _Don't go anywhere near my daughter_."

"Relax," the blond waved him off "Geez the overprotective dad thing doesn't really suit you. She's not really my type anyway."

"She'd better not be. You're the worst possible influence I could imagine giving her."

"I'm still her Godfather though."

"A decision that I will sadly regret for eternity," Alucard said dryly.

"What has she been up to these past couple of centuries anyway?"

"Insufferably travelling the world with that guitar of hers as a musician," Alucard said with a sigh "She thinks she's still a child."

"Hey, she just wants a little freedom and fun."

"She's arrogant in her abilities, hard-headed and completely unwilling to listen to any advice that isn't hers!"

"Sounds a little like someone I know," Naruto said with a laugh "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree you know."

Alucard's grunt made it only more enjoyable for the blond.

 _Brring!_

 _Brring!_

"That's weird, who the hell would call me this early?"

Naruto moved from his seated position on his couch to grab his cellphone.

"Yo! You have reached the kickass number of Konoha's most unpredictable Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. If this is Tsukiyomi calling about the thing with the moon, I'm not available. If this is Aphrodite calling about the thing with the Amazons, I'm also unavailable."

" _Naruto?"_

The blond blinked "Issei? How the hell did you get my number?"

" _Never mind that –– what was that thing you just said about Moon or the Amazons?_ "

"Uh… Is the answer to that question relevant in any dire case of a life or death situation?"

" _No but ––"_

"Then I'm not required to answer that."

" _Right, I almost forgot about those rules,_ " he said _"It wouldn't be against the rules if I asked you to tell me if you know of any technique capable of instantly putting one or multiple people to sleep?_ "

"No it wouldn't." Naruto said "The most basic for you though would be the Feather Falling Illusion Jutsu. That's a Genjutsu by the way, an illusionary technique performed by utilizing chakra to infiltrate the system of your target and manipulate their senses."

" _Alright thanks. I should be able to figure out how to do it."_

"Need anything else?"

" _The concluding matrix needed for creating summoning scrolls, is it clockwise or counterclockwise?_ "

Naruto blinked "You've worked your way up to creating summoning scrolls?" he shook his head "It's counterclockwise, but that's matrix will only work for a one-time use, it has to be anchored to a key, and it can only be used for reverse-summoning."

" _No worries, it's perfect for what I've got in mind. Thanks for the help!"_

The phone went dead and Naruto tossed it aside on his couch, only to note that Alucard was giving him the most peculiar look.

"What?"

"I find it odd that you," Alucard began "the famed and illusive All-Knowing Sage, would cater so easily to a human boy when you could effortlessly end his life with the same amount of effort it takes one to step on an ant."

Naruto's eyes wrinkled in amusement "Issei's a good kid, he's got a ton of potential. Plus, his life serves as a really good muse for my books."

"And cut with that All-Knowing Sage thing, you know I don't run that job anymore. If you want information, go meet the Oracle of Delphi."

"The Greek gods guard their Oracle more preciously than a nun guards her virginity." Naruto chuckled at the joke as the vampire continued "You on the other hand… you have a vaster area of expertise and knowledge, almost as though you know exactly what is going to occur just before it does."

"I'm not psychic." Naruto shook his head "I'm just a shinobi with kickass doujutsu who's _really_ in tune with nature."

"Speaking of nature," Alucard added dryly "Would you have your leader of the Yokai clan act with a little more tact? Having massive orgies in his throne room doesn't exactly project the civilized nature of the Yokai now does it?"

Naruto facepalmed "Gah, I'm really starting to regret giving him a bipedal body and that position."

Alucard's grin turned predatory "So you'll remove him and take the posi–"

"I mean having an orgy with dozens of cute bunny girls and fox-girls and not inviting me? How ungrateful can you get?"

Alucard's face dropped. Of course, what had he been expecting, they were jailer and prisoner after all. The Vampire shook his head. What an odd world they lived in.

 _Brring!_

 _Brring!_

"Now what?" Naruto shunshined over to his phone and picked it up "Issei, what do you-"

" _Uzumaki Naruto!"_

The blond blinked "Oh, Tsukiyomi-chan… hope you're still not mad about the thing with- hello, sorry, you're breaking up bzzt tzzzt I- Can't-"

" _Don't you da-"_

 _Click!_

"I think I dodged a bullet there." Naruto turned to Alucard watched as the man was grinning like he had been possessed by the devil himself.

"Anyway, it's almost time for me to send a shadow clone off to the kid's school." Naruto glanced at the time and then back to the vampire "So what was it you wanted to speak to me about?"

"Ah yes," The Vampire regained his composure as his face took on a more serious expression "I have the information you required."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "You mean about the sudden proficiency Kokabiel gained in sealing?"

Naruto had recalled how the fallen angel Dohnaseek had vanished from Issei's battle with a rune placed on the ground that prevented teleportation, and was a failsafe for injury against the caster.

This was something else that had been completely unique to this timeline. Never before had such things happened, and Naruto needed to find out both why and how.

Any rune strong enough to completely disable all forms of teleportation into and out of it, even Naruto's own Hiraishin, had to have come from a rune or fuinjutsu master. As far as Naruto knew, he was the only one left – he didn't count Issei – so that either meant that someone out there had re-established the art of fuinjutsu, _or_ there was another shinobi from his era running around causing havoc behind the scenes.

There were very, _very_ few people who possessed proficiency in sealing that Naruto could think of, and none of them were good.

Mephisto Pheles was one of the few people, who could match Naruto in seals, and of course, there was Michael's Father, the biblical God, but thankfully he'd died pulling off the most complicated seal in existence on Trihexa.

Three hundred and sixty six seals, each constantly changing position on the matrix every six minutes, with the passwords changing _six_ times every _sixty-six_ seconds. It made the seal for the Kyubi look like it was created by a two year old with ADHD.

In one of Naruto's past loops, he had wanted to unseal the beast for fancy, knowing that the damage would be undone once time reset, but he hadn't even come close to completing his task even with several thousand shadow clones, so he simply gave it up.

"This, _Null Void_ rune, is seemingly of demonic origin." Alucard said "Demonic, not devilish, which means our friends in the Demon Faction aren't quite as laid-back as we previously assumed."

"Let me guess, there's more."

"It can be adjusted to the settings of the user, an angel using it would make it effective against demons, a devil using it would make it effective against angels." Alucard noted.

"What would happen if a vampire used it?" Naruto inquired.

Alucard made a shrug as he continued "I have yet to seen the outcome. However, they've been mass distributing this rune and selling it in the underworld black market at extremely extravagant prices to the highest bidder. The last person known to have bought it, was the Fallen Angel Kokabiel."

Naruto's eyes narrowed "Well that narrows down the creator to only one person then."

Alucard raised an eyebrow "And that would be?"

Naruto sighed "The Leader of The Demon Faction."

"I believed the Leader of the Demon Faction was a sword-wielding mercenary? How would he be capable of doing this?" Alucard asked.

"That was the former leader, well, technically he's the former and current –– It's a bit complicated."

"So, I do believe further investigation is in order?"

Naruto nodded "Let's go meet up some demons."

Issei had his own battles to face, but this was also necessary for that battle. If Kokabiel had a 'get-out-of-death-free' card which he could randomly use at any time to escape from battle, it wouldn't end nicely at all for the Gamer. As such, the human and the vampire vanished in their respective techniques, leaving a shadow clone of the blond man as the only living thing in the mansion.

"Oi! Don't expect me to clean this up!"

The shadow clone grumbled about stupid originals and drunken vampires as it diligently stormed off to prepare for its role as Kuoh Academy's Guidance Counselor.

Hearing the rumbling of thunder overhead, the clone had a feeling that it was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

~~~~~~ _Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~_

 **Kuoh General Hospital**

 **6:30 AM**

"Stupid Valper, motherfucking meathead, making me have to do this shit."

Freed Selzen swore underneath his breath as he moved through the halls of the Kuoh hospital, his eyes rapidly scanning through the building as he tried to find the meeting place of Valper's "contacts".

His so called contacts where certain lab scientists who had one way or another accidently come across the existence of supernatural beings. Rather than of course kill them off, they were made to swear secrecy and allowed to keep their lives in exchange for certain favors in exchange. In other words, they became members of a larger conspiracy, being more or less pawns that were only called upon when necessary.

"With any luck the contact will be a cunt. I've got a fucking bad case of the blue balls, and she just might help me with that."

Freed had no choice but to head to the hospital earlier than intended, especially seeing as how a freak storm was seemingly coming out of nowhere, even when the weather forecast had called for clear skies not too long ago. The weird weather was not the only thing that felt off to the man, as he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched.

Not that it bothered him after all; he was a wanted man for the meantime, both in local news where he was a known serial killer, and in international affairs. The Catholic Church had eventually decided that Freed Selzen was far too dangerous and too insane to be left alone, so they were going to send in exorcists to either retrieve or eliminate him.

The white-haired man was waiting for them to come, he would cut of their heads and rip their spinal cords out of their ass before sending it back to the church in a neatly wrapped package with a 'fuck you' note attached.

 _Boom!_

There was a crack of thunder underneath which drew the man to reality, and to the fact that he was seemingly standing alone in a vast corridor with no one either entering nor exiting from either side.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." The man reached into his pockets for his weapons, his eyes widening in the realization that he had not replaced them ever since they had been stolen by the kid who could magically make rotten food appear out of thin air.

He let out a breath of air and noted the mist that came out from his mouth, indicating how rapidly the temperature had fallen.

From his front, he noted a blond boy with a purple dragon-like gauntlet on his arm, and a busty young woman with glasses at his side both calmly waving.

He turned around, eager to dash out of the corridor, only to note a blue-haired girl wielding what he had rightly assumed to be his exorcist's gun, and giving him the calmest of smiles. She was accompanied by a black haired girl with square framed glasses and they were both leaning on the wall, completely cutting off all forms of exit.

"Exorcist-san… I do hope you remember me?"

' _Shit, shit shit! How the fuck did they know I'd be here?'_ "Of course I remember you bitch! So what, you think that just because you got three extra pussies and one limp dick you have a chance?" he snorted.

His answer was a golden bullet from the gun which struck him directly in the knee.

"FUCK! You bitch!" Freed swore as he collapsed on one leg and watched as the other three gave the blue-haired girl curious glances.

Tsubasa blinked "I wasn't aiming at your knee, I was kind of aiming a little bit higher."

Saji wisely maintained his distance from the blue-haired devil, just as a safety precaution.

Needless to say, Freed knew he was in a bad position. His chances of escape were gone with one bleeding and injured knee, and he had very little he could do.

' _I can't go down like this! Fuck it!'_

"Bring it bitches! I'll take you all down and make sure your screaming my fucking name in no time! I am Freed fucking Selzen! I won't be taken down by devil scum!"

He still had a vial of holy water, which he branded up as he gestured to the devils with a come hither motion.

It would have been more impressive had he not been bleeding all over and desperately clutching his limb.

"So you wish to play with water?" the black haired one said "Allow me to show you how it's done."

The exorcist promptly opened the vial, as a magical circle appeared in front of the black haired girl who he had correctly assumed to be a devil from the Sitri clan. From the circle, emerged a serpentine eastern dragon which charged at him with jaws wide and let out a deafening roar that threw his hair backwards.

The vial of holy water dropped to the floor silently.

It was right then and there, that Freed Selzen knew – he fucked up.

The dragon lunged forward, taking all the concussive force of a charging bull and slammed the man into the wall like a fly on a windscreen. Darkness was the last thing the exorcist saw was he slipped into sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

~~~~~~ _DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~_

 **Building Opposite Kuoh Station**

 **6:45 AM**

 _Ping!_

 **You have completed the objective of a quest! – Prevent Murayama's Fate.**

"So Sona finally got to Freed and Murayama," Issei mused "That leaves only two main objectives for me to complete."

' _Quite cunning of you,'_ Ddraig noted ' _To have the Sitri heir herself eliminate a possible threat as well as save the life of this girl I assume?'_

"It was pretty much killing two birds with one stone," Issei said "Sona would heal Murayama and in return, the girl would feel grateful towards Sona, and would have no problems joining her peerage should Sona request."

' _So the Sitri heir would gain a new member of her peerage, the injured girl would have her life back as a devil, and then they would aid in eliminating an enemy of yours from the board.'_ Ddraig said ' _You are beginning to both terrify and exhilarate me all at once_.'

"It wasn't much."

' _Wasn't much?'_ Ddraig said with a hint of disbelief ' _You went from grandstanding blackmail of three Fallen Angels to manipulating two heirs of the 72 Pillar Clans, both of which have elder siblings that are amongst the Great Four Satans!'_

"Like I said; it wasn't much." Well at least compared to some of the things he had undergone in the past several hours anyway. On the plus side, he had gained five levels in the Blackmail skill and three levels in the Bluff skill for his stunts with the angels.

' _Can we keep this villain version of you? I like him better.'_

"No. It's all an act Ddraig, one that I'll be happy to do without."Issei said.

' _Even the mission you gave to those Fallen Angels… a suicide mission? Is it all part of the act?'_

"That's the best part of the act so far," Issei said with a grin "And since when did you care, I thought you were simply enjoying the show?"

The dragon sighed, and it sounded much older for that brief second.

' _We are connected Issei, do you think that I do not know about your journey through time or the task which you have to save the world?'_ Ddraig asked _'Do you also think that I cannot hear the whispers of the darkness as it tries to seduce you to succumb to your more primal desires?'_

Issei had been wondering why the dragon had been more chummy and helpful than in the previous timeline, and he had finally found his answer.

' _Let me tell you a story Issei. Several hundred years ago, my host was attending a play amongst the midst of humans, this play was written by a man I believe was called Shakespeare.'_

Issei blinked, he knew Ddraig was old, but he didn't think the dragon was _that_ old.

' _The play raged on, and then the villain on the stage was amazing, he was manipulative, he was perfectly magnificent.'_ Ddraig said ' _However, his magnificence was only as great as the person playing the villain.'_

"Where are you going with this Ddraig?"

' _The man playing the villain played it well,_ too _well, as such, a man in the audience, moved by the captivating performance, became convinced he was real. He got up, and shot the villain – an actor – right in lieu of everyone present, unable to differentiate between reality and fiction.'_

The message had been clear to Issei.

"So his acting had been so convincing, he was killed because of it."

' _Yes, and I do hope you will endure a similar fate._ '

"Well tha- wait, what?"

' _I mean the acting part. Not the death part. Seeing you go all Movie Villain on people is the most fun I've had in centuries!'_

Issei shook his head "You are one weird dragon Ddraig."

No more words were spoken between the two, and Issei only took in a deep breath as he calmed his mind. There were greater things at stake here, he would deal with his conscience later.

He was paying close attention to the Kuoh station in hopes that he could find the elusive nun that was called Asia Argento. If his assumptions were right then it meant that she had arrived at Kuoh academy in the morning, and most likely she had appeared using the train, as a nun didn't really have any viable means of income that would enable her access to more luxurious forms of transportation.

His Perfect Vision perk granted him a good enough eyesight that even though he was sitting several feet high and on the roof of another building, he could still spot people coming out of the station with the same level of clarity as though he were someone that was on the ground floor and observing everything around them.

There was one thing that just made absolutely no sense though.

Issei glanced up to the sky and frowned as he noted the gathering clouds that were quickly darkening in the sky, as well as the sudden increase in the atmospheric pressure and wind speeds. A single droplet of liquid made up of the primary elements of oxygen and hydrogen fell onto his forehead and he could not help but scowl at the offending substance.

He wasn't a hundred percent sure, but he was almost completely certain that in the last loop it had not rained. He honestly did not want to believe that the actions he had taken since coming back to the past had set in motion a series of changes that were powerful enough to change the weather.

Then again, who knew what little things he might have done that could potentially possess the power to change the future, either for better or worse.

Issei paused.

It was about to rain. _It was about to rain_.

' _Yes, why does the weather warrant such noise?'_

That wasn't something he could look over. "The difference between a rainy day and a sunny day was as vast as the difference between day and night."

' _Do tell.'_

"Picture this," Issei said "A man who has finally picked the day for his wedding, and he and his bride conduct the ceremony outside, they have a wonderful reception, they have fun, and even though he and his bride had been arguing earlier, after the beautiful ceremony in the sun, all is forgotten and they reunite as happy lovers. In time, they would go on their honeymoon, spend a passionate night together, months later, they would go on and welcome a child into the world. Their family would blossom into a long genealogy of astronauts, scientists, athletes and scholars, with no one remembering the little argument their ancestors had years ago."

' _So?'_

"But in this timeline, where somehow, someway," Issei said "I had changed the course of the future to make it somehow rain, the ceremony would either be ruined or be postponed to a later time, their arguments would perhaps have continued and escalated. In this timeline, the tensions are high and spirits are low, and in a moment of spite, or anger, someone says something they could not take back. A resounding slap echoes, a wedding ring is tossed, a maiden's heart is broken, a gentleman storms off. In such a scenario, they would not get married, they would not have had their honeymoon."

Issei took in a deep breath.

"They would be neither children nor grandchildren. Nor would there be a genealogy."

' _Has anyone told you that you have quite the imagination?'_ Ddraig said dryly ' _You have no way of knowing that you caused the rain, and blaming yourself for anything that happens as a result is quite frankly, stupid.'_

Issei took in a second deeper breath as he watched people began scuttling around rapidly to avoid being caught up in the rain, and he exhaled as the winds picked up in ferocity and the skies darkened in intensity.

"I suppose you're right Ddraig," Issei said with a sigh "It's just, think about the numerous possibilities that occur for the every being in the world. Think about how tiny choices could change everything, if only she had spent a little longer at the grocery store, or if only he had taken the long way home instead, just think about the possibilities of people or things that could have been in integral part of your life, but aren't."

' _You're referring to the nun aren't you?'_

"Just think," Issei said "All I had done differently was follow a different path that day, and I never got to meet Asia. Can you imagine how such a small thing ended up having such grand effects? Can you think about all the people we could have fallen in love with or all the opportunities we could have had if only we'd walked down a different road? There are millions of possibilities in our lives Ddraig, and it kind of makes me both scared and excited, because who knows if today will be the day that I make a choice that changes everything, forever."

As someone who had travelled back in time, simply possessing knowledge of the future was enough to change it, and he had already started causing grand ripples in time. In his attempts, who knew if he had already made a choice or committed an action that would change the future for the worse?

' _There are choices laid out in front of you, you may not be able to choose all, and you may have missed out on some of the choices that could have changed your life radically'_ Ddraig said solemnly ' _But then, you have to believe that the choices you have made are the right ones and accept it, so you never feel the need to look back with regret.'_

With the way the dragon had spoken Issei found himself asking "Do you have regrets Ddraig?"

The dragon's silence was a greater answer than anything it could have said.

It seemed that the Red Dragon Emperor was a being that was just as mysterious as legends had proclaimed. However, Issei would find out about the past of the dragon, whether he liked it or not.

"Oof! Ow that hurt."

Issei's ears picked up the notable voice of a young girl and his eyes had roamed over the ground and without much difficulty; he had been able to find his target, as her name and level floated over her head. The rain had started pouring down, and it seemed that the girl had slipped on the wet surface, as indicated by her position on the floor. He wasted no time at all to cast Observe.

 **Asia Argento Lv. 10**

 **Title: None**

 **Race: Human**

 **Class: N/A**

 **Age: 16**

 **Occupation(s): Ex-Nun**

 **Alignment: Lawful Good**

 **HP: 500/500**

 **MP: 150/150**

 **Strength: 9**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Dexterity: 12**

 **Intelligence: 11**

 **Wisdom: 10**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charisma: 10**

 **Current Emotions: Somber**

 **Current Status Effects: Soaked (grants bonus ice and electricity damage, reduces fire damage)**

 **Bio: Asia is a shy but kind orphaned girl who was adopted by the church and praised for her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, which was used to heal people far and near. She was revered as a Saint, until she used her powers to heal a devil, and was immediately cast out from the Church as a heretic, losing the only home she ever had, and leaving her vulnerable to the true harshness of the world.**

 **Likes: helping people, friendship, kindness, dancing, sweet foods, rainbows, rainy days, and cute animals**

 **Dislikes: betrayals, lies, violence, wickedness, selfishness and vice**

 **Views: She has no opinion of you yet.**

The nun was much younger than Issei expected, she was a pretty young girl with long blonde hair and green eyes. Her hair flowed all the way down to her back, with split bangs over her forehead and a single strand sticking out from the top, sloping backwards.

She was dressed in a dark teal nun outfit with light blue accents, a white veil over her head with light blue accents and brown boots with black straps in an X-shaped pattern with silver cross necklace around her neck. There was a child-like appeal to her form; she was considerably attractive and vulnerable; having such qualities that would make it easy for someone to want to protect her from harm. So far, there was a vast difference between Asia and every other girl Issei had met so far.

There was _one_ thing that remained the same.

"Do you think its mere coincidence that I've been meeting girls while they're _wet?"_

He'd met Sona whilst she came out of the bathroom – soaking wet.

He'd met Tsubasa while she was in the bathroom and she was, of course - soaking wet.

Rias had also come out of the bathroom while he hid in Tsubasa's shadow – soaking wet.

Now, he was on his way to meet Asia, and then it had starting raining, also making her – soaking wet.

' _If there's anything we've learnt so far, is that there are no such things as coincidences.'_ Ddraig explained ' _There are a lot of gods who control rain and storms, though I don't see why any would want to keep making girls wet around you.'_

Issei's left eye twitched "Other than to attain the obvious innuendo which could be derived from the situations?"

' _Obvious innuendo?'_

"Hyoudou Issei – whenever he's around, girls are guaranteed to be wet."

' _Pffft! Hahahaha! Oh that's just priceless!'_ Ddraig said ' _Just imagine going around advertising yourself like that! Perverts all over the world would line up to pay for your services.'_

"Right up until they realize the type of _wet_ I'm talking about." Issei deadpanned.

' _They'd only enjoy that even more; especially if the girls in question are wearing something white or translucent_.'

"That's… disappointingly true." Issei sighed and shook his head. He would figure out if the whole situation was just a series of unlikely coincidences, whether it was divine intervention or if it was secretly his Gutsy Pervert and Lord of The Gambit perks manipulating time and space to make these scenarios happen.

Not that he was truly complaining of course.

Issei leaped down from his position on the roof and utilized chakra to cushion his fall, rolling perfectly on the ground to evenly distribute body weight from the fall. He ignored the heavy rain pounding against his flesh, and the cloud of mist that appeared in front of his face with each breath as he maintained a steady gait towards the nun. His eyes glanced at a woman in a raincoat with an umbrella, and he felt no guilt when he manipulated the shadow of the umbrella to have it fly away from the woman. She decided it was not worth it to chase after it, and as such, once it returned to the ground Issei picked up the instrument without hesitation.

And so, a choice was made, a road was taken and another meeting began.

* * *

 _~~~~~~DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~_

' _Is it a sin to be kind?_ '

That was a question that Asia Argento found herself pondering ever since her ex-communication. Was it bad to want to help people in a selfish world? Was it wrong to want to feel the sorrows and joys of other people?

Asia might have been soft, and maybe slightly naïve, but she was not stupid. She knew that kindness was the greatest gift you could ever give someone else, as well as yourself. Yet, all the legendary figures in the world who had ever been truly kind had gotten nothing but misery for all their troubles. From Saint Valentine to the Son of God, all they had gotten in turn for their kindness was betrayal, punishment, hatred, scorn, and persecution.

If all she was ever going to receive in turn for her kindness was betrayal, then was it worth being kind?

It had been one trial after another for her. Admittedly, everything had gone sour when she had decided to heal the young man who had appeared before her, wounded, injured, and desperate for help.

God had given her a gift, a gift to help people, she could heal sickness and disease and pain and misery. All she wanted to do was to help people. And so, even though knowing that the man in front of her was a devil, she had smiled, she had smiled as she helped heal him.

And he had looked so grateful too.

No one else understood. They had called it a blasphemy; they had called her a heretic. The same people, who had showered her with smiles and praises, sang hymns with her in adulation to their most high, revered her with joyful brilliance as they all believed they were brothers and sisters in the lord, had been the first to cast their stones of hate and disgust.

Smiles had turned to jeers, praises had turned to insults. People she thought she could count on turned their back on her without a second thought.

And once again she was alone.

No, she had always been alone. She had simply forgotten.

Even when they had cherished her, there were still those that had been envious of her gift, there had been those who disliked her for her abilities. She had never let it go to her head, she had never made herself seem any more important or any more special than anybody else. All she had wanted, was to use her gift in the name of the Most High, to help people and to bring them happiness. Had it been too much to ask?

Perhaps this was a challenge, a challenge that was set forth by God in order to prove her worth. Every notable biblical figure had undergone a form of challenge in order to prove their undying faith and devotion, and as such, perhaps this was hers.

So she had come to Kuoh Town, hopefully to gain some sort of shelter with the Fallen Angels, because she had truly nowhere else she could go. But now, she had a feeling that the Fallen Angels who wanted her were not good at all, and she felt that her life was in danger.

And all her troubles had started from one act of kindness.

The rain was pouring down on her, and she knew that her clothes had become completely soaked, but she found the rain to be eerily comforting. The rain was your companion whether you were happy, in which you would dance under the wonderful droplets of the heaven's showers, you would twirl and turn and be lost in your passion, as it was just you and the world, nothing else mattered. At the same time, when you were sad, the rain would weep for those too weak to shed tears, and it would mask the tears of those strong enough to shed them. It would comfort you with its coldness, its darkness, and it would soak you in emotions, as the deafening droplets muffled the roars of rage or the sobs of sorrow, everyone had something in common with the rain.

Then, the most beautiful part of the rain was once it was over, it was once the sun had come up, it was once the storm was over.

Asia blinked as she realized that the rain was no longer pounding on her body. Her eyes turned upwards, as she spotted a slender arm holding a red umbrella that kept her sheltered from the elements. Her eyes traced down the arm until it connected to its owner, a black-haired boy who looked equally soaked to the bone, dressed entirely in black, as he stretched out his free hand towards her.

She could not help but stare at the hand as though it were a foreign object.

"The rain is beautiful isn't it," his chilled voice said, possessing the viscosity of honey "It can wash away your pain and leave you feeling like you have been baptized by the tears of angels themselves."

The monotonous echo of the raindrops rhythmically crashing all around them dulled in her ears as it was replaced only by the deep pounding of her chest.

"The rain can embrace you, it can be your companion, it can be your friend and at times, it feels that the rain has everything you could ever think or ask."

Asia's breathing deepened as she stared at the strange black haired teen that was reading her mind, the same teen that had suddenly pulled his black leather hoodie that was impervious to the liquid.

"But that's not true. You see, like humans, there are days when the rain cannot always be there for you. There are days when it is merciless and thunders against you."

As though the weather itself was in agreement, a streak of lightning illuminated the sky and thunder boomed loudly into her eardrums.

"But unlike humans, there is one thing the rain can never give you." the stranger put the coat over her shoulders, and smiled.

"It can never give you warmth."

Her lips weren't dry, yet, it felt so. Her jawline clenched and fought for whether or not they would open or close, and the hammering of her own heartbeat became too loud in her own ears. She wondered why she felt this way, and then she realized the reason. For the first time in a long while, Asia Argento was rendered utterly speechless.

' _Is it a sin to be kind?_ '

Her answer would be no; it was not a sin to show kindness to others. Yet, Asia realized that she had lived her entire life giving kindness to other people, and she had enjoyed the warmth she received in return from her actions. But the feeling that had suddenly sparked up in her, she knew, originated from being on the receiving end of someone else's display of kindness.

How long had it been, since someone else had showed her kindness? She could not recall, nor did she care to. Instead, she took the hand of the teen who helped her to her feet, and in those few moments, she finally felt what it was like to feel the warmth of someone else's kindness. So even if being kind was a rare trait in the harsh world, and even if being kind would earn her nothing but persecution and misery, Asia Argento would do her best to be the kindest she could be.

Back then she didn't know it and neither did the young teen that had helped her, but in that moment, he had saved Asia Argento from the only person in the world who could truly have hurt her.

 _Herself_.

"T-thank y-you." She regarded the young teen with a smile as he helped her up "It must be the Lord's doing to meet someone as kind as you."

"I should be the one thanking you," he said "It's not every day you get to live a fairy tale."

She scrunched her nose cutely as she tried to decipher what he meant, and it took her only a couple of seconds for her to realize that she was in close proximity with a teenage boy, and they were both sharing a single umbrella. It was almost like one of those experiences of romance that she had read about, those magnificent meetings and moments that would leave the main heroine speechless with butterflies in her stomach.

Her face heated up and she could feel the blood flow to her cheeks. No, those novels had it all wrong. She didn't feel speechless, she felt _breathless,_ and it was only the sight of the cloud of mist that occurred in front of her face that was able to remind her that she was still breathing. She didn't have butterflies in her stomach; she had _fireworks_ going off in her stomach, going off like a festival in the states on the fourth of July.

She had to reign in those feelings, she thought quickly. She was a sister of the cloth, and more importantly, it wouldn't do for her to have these sudden passions for a complete stranger.

 _But his words._ His words had been poetic, they had been inspiring, and she found herself ever so enthralled by his words more so than she was able to resist.

Was the Lord tempting her? Was this a test of faith? Or perhaps, was he to be her guardian angel, sent from the divine to aid her in her time of need?

"I-I can't take this-" she said quickly as she tried to hand him back his jacket, he was wearing nothing but a black singlet underneath, and in this sort of weather, it would be suicide to go around dressed like that.

Though it was strangely warm and strangely dry, and though it had the scent of burning sawdust mixed with the strange allure of dried blueberries, it would be wrong of her to accept it whilst he was so exposed to the elements.

"You need it more than I do." He said with a smile "Well, that and a change of clothes. If you stay in those things too long you'll definitely catch a cold."

"But-"

"Shhh," he said as he placed a finger on her lips "Just take it."

Her heart leaped to her throat and Asia was truly starting to feel the possibility that the young man in front of her was an angel sent from above.

"I'm Hyoudou Issei."

"Nice to meet you Issei-san, I'm A-Asia Argento." She tried to calm down, but the cold and rain around them made his very presence stand out like a beacon of warmth. "Um... Shouldn't we get out of the rain Issei-san?"

"Well Asia-chan", Issei let out another of his charming smiles "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

 _~~~~~~DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~_

 **Kuoh Academy**

 **8:04 AM**

Something was in the air. No one knew what it was yet, but it was just the slight feeling of something big about to happen that had been reverberating throughout the halls of the Academy, and all throughout Kuoh.

Rias' instincts could feel it. Her hair stood on edge and her body was constantly on alert, as though searching for danger at every corner. It was the odd foreboding one got before a disaster or a tragedy that could easily have been avoided if one had looked carefully.

She strutted down the halls of the Academy which were filled with few students due to the sudden freak storm. Thankfully, teachers had also yet to arrive because of the rain, and as such it gave the students the chance to just litter in the hallways and gossip about their daily activities. Of course, the hottest gossip in the school was circulating about the infamous Hyoudou Issei who had done the impossible the previous day, he had managed to beat and send one Murayama Busujima to the hospital in one swing of a kendo stick.

At first, Rias had presumed him to be lucky, but it seemed that he had truly unlocked his Sacred Gear – whatever it was – and now, he had lunged into the world of the Supernatural, possibly believing himself superior to everyone else. He had bargained a deal with her, _her_ of all people, in whatever misguided quest of his. Either he was woefully unaware of who she was, or he was extremely confident in her own ability.

But it had been just a day after all. What human being, much less a pervert, would be able to change in the span of twenty-four hours?

Rias walked into the clubroom, having left upon hearing rumors of a new guidance counselor, only to come upon the sight of her peerage looking rather baffled, as well as the sight of Sona and her peerage in their midst.

There was however, a rather unexpected guest.

"Sona."

"Yes Rias?"

"Would you mind explaining why there is a tied up exorcist in my clubroom?"

"Clearly he would be a lot more difficult to handle if he was set loose."

"I meant, why is there an exorcist in my clubroom?"

"It is a more suitable place to keep hostages than the student council office don't you think?"

"No, I mean…" Rias rubbed the bridge of her nose, her feet tapping against the ground as she took in a deep breath "Why in the world did you kidnap an exorcist?"

"It was against my wishes, personally I'd have killed him and be done with it, but _someone_ believes he may still have use to us."

Rias' eyes were rifled with ire "You're messing with me aren't you?"

"Perhaps." Sona said with a slight glint in her eyes.

"Mmmhgmmgm!" said gagged man let out several grunts which were ignored by the two girls.

"Can you at least do something about his wound? He's bleeding all over my carpet."

"Don't worry, I'll cauterize it." Tsubasa chipped in with a voice that was way too happy to mean anything good. "Now, where was that welding torch?"

"MMMMPPH!"

"I'm not entirely sure it's appropriate to cauterize a bullet wound through the knee…" Rias trailed off "… especially if you're doing so with a welding torch." ' _Where in the world did she get a welding torch anyway?'_

"There is absolutely no problem in the world that cannot be solved with the right application of enough fire".

Rias glanced at the girl with a skeptic gaze, and then began massaging her temples with her fingers as she walked away "I don't know how, but something tells me Hyoudou Issei is responsible for this."

"Hey your gag came off– wait! Hold still otherwise this'll slip!"

"YOU CRAZY BITCH! You're going to cut off my-!"

The Occult Research would come into query by the school in the following days to come due to the loud, almost feminine sounding screech that could be heard all over the Academy.

Thankfully, the pounding rain had muffled the intensity, and not too many people had arrived yet.

Rias massaged her temples even more "This definitely has Hyoudou written all over it."

Akeno was simply staring at the scene with eyes closed in amusement. Kiba was cringing as best as he could while also trying to get away and Koneko was… Koneko.

Even Sona's peerage seemed to have varying emotions at that moment.

"Rias, may I have a word with you, in private?"

Rias rose an eyebrow at the rather strange request, but obliged anyway as the duo stepped out of the club and away from prying ears.

"I'd never quite taken you for the impulsive type Rias, but your actions today surprised me." Sona said with a chuckle, uncaring of the fate of the exorcist.

"Surprised you?"

"You accepted Hyoudou's terms of conditions without first inquiring as to who you would be protecting him against."

"How do you know about that- ah, Tsubasa told you." Rias didn't like where this was going "Regardless, I do believe myself and my peerage capable enough to handle any threat he finds himself in."

"Even against a Cadre Class Fallen Angel?"

The duo fell into total silence.

"What?"

Sona's glasses glinted magnificently in the lighting "The person you are going to protect Hyoudou Issei from is a Cadre Class Fallen Angel, he goes by the name of Kokabiel."

Rias' felt her heart leap into her throat at the declaration of the news. She wanted to call Sona's bluff, but this was Sona Sitri, and as far as she had known her rival, she _never_ joked. She had never heard Sona joke even once, and there was no real reason for to start now. Her mind was instantly screaming at her to run, or to hide and take cover. Her peerage, for all their skills had never actually participated in any form of rating game except mock games with Sona nor had they won against any opponent that was not a weak stray devil searching for its next meal.

Against a Cadre Class Fallen Angel, one who had fought in the Great War with God and the Original Satans and had lived to tell the tale?

It wouldn't be a fight.

It would be a bloody massacre.

Her first instinct was to round on Tsubasa with angry eyes, but then upon seeing the girl's reaction, it was clear that the blue-haired teen had simply been a messenger and nothing more, she was unaware of the fact as well.

Her second instinct was to think of how she could call in reinforcements from her brother's peerage, but then she realized that it was against the deal. It was a part of the deal she hadn't understood, until now. If she were to do so, she would be in essence, breaking her part of the deal and signing her body and soul away to Hyoudou Issei for the pervert to do god knows what.

And so her third instinct was to sit down and realize that she could very well be the reason the holy war continued.

It hadn't been a deal, it had been a trap pure and simple. If she called in for help, she was essentially becoming Hyoudou Issei's slave, if she didn't, then she faced Kokabiel on her own, fought, and died, and then ultimately, ended up being the reason for re-sparking the holy war.

She, a devil, had been outsmarted by a human teenage boy.

It was both infuriating and downright unbelievable.

"How in the world are you so calm about this?!" Rias asked her rival, who was taking her despair in stride, and had a confident air about her.

"Because I believe we can win."

Rias glanced at her rival as though she had just said that lions were vegans.

"Trust me, it'll be the hardest fight of your life, but there's a very high chance of us winning."

Rias shook her head "What in the world did he do that would possibly make a cadre class Fallen Angel come after his head?"

"Ah, that has something to do with the reason why I believe we can win." Sona said seriously, though her lips twitched into a phantom of a smile.

"Hyoudou Issei has done something that no human before him has ever done before, and something that I doubt any human after him will ever do."

"And that is?" Rias dreaded to ask.

"Staging an assassination attempt against one of the members of the Grigori."

* * *

~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Unknown Location**

 **One hour and Thirty Minutes earlier…**

It had been a simple enough mission, with each of them being assigned different roles. Raynare had been tasked with finding Azazel and giving him a note, Mittelt had been tasked with infiltrating the lab and stealing a sample of Kokabiel's blood, and then Kalawarner had been tasked with delivering a letter to Kokabiel himself.

Mittelt had performed her role fluently, and other than escaping Valper's suspiscion, and of course ignoring the ranting of their silver haired prisoner and test-subject, she could have not have done a better job.

Everything however went to hell the minute Kokabiel had arrived and then Kalawarner had given him the letter.

And then he had read it out loud.

 _Dear Kokabiel,_

 _You may have heard of me from your subordinates as the man who trashed Dohnaseek and humiliated Raynare. This is true on both accounts, and sadly, your fallen angels were weak and pathetic, I, a mere human could easily crush them under the heel of my boot if I wished too. I heard you were a battle-mongering warrior, and I have as such issued this challenge out to you. Seek me out and fight me, a battle, with all our forces on board, to whom the victor goes the spoils and the loser forfeits his life. What do you say?_

Of course, Kokabiel had laughed and then was about to discard the letter, feeling that he had better things to do with his time, only for new words to suddenly appear on it, and a voice emanated from the paper. Yes, a _voice,_ which had seemingly been recorded into the letter.

" _You laughed. Excellent. So shall I laugh once your corpse lays cooling before my feet and the remains of your existence is crumbled to ashes, only for you to be remembered by history as the first of my many defeats. No, such is not worthy of you, a scum who seeks to repopulate his own race by killing dozens of innocent lives. No, you will be remembered as nothing more than a footnote on the history books, an existence whose mere mention would serve as a joke told by infants without any facet of credibility. Fear me Kokabiel, for I am not your worst nightmare, no, I extend from beyond the reach of your dreams and I am the being from which your nightmares flee. I am the one whom darkness embraces, I am the master of the Longinus, the will of the Red Dragon Emperor, I am the King of Games and you, a mere jester._

 _I am Hyoudou Issei."_

That was the moment that everything had changed. For after that declaration, were two words, so silent and remote that they would not have heard it had the room not been completely silent.

" _Final Twilight._ "

The world turned white.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah I do enjoy writing Badass Boasts. Anyway, there have been complaints about Issei's power levels, sadly, Issei is a broken character. Just Imagine Playing Skyrim or Inquisition and having the Boosted Gear? Imagine Doubling your levels to take on Alduin or Corypheus? So Naturally, having him nerfed is not something I can do. However, this means that Issei is going to start out badass, and still evolve into something MORE badass.**

 **Remember, Level 1000 isn't the cap.**

 **So Asia is introduced, and I do have to admit that this chapter was delayed because I didn't know what to do with her character. I never liked her being corrupted so easily and turning all horny and pervy in canon, nor did I like how she's the only character portrayed a little too 'perfectly'** **. Other than her kindness and loyalty there's not a goddamn character or personality trait she has that makes her a unique or memorable character. She's basically just another cute face.**

 **So I'll try and make her as "realistic" as possible without making it seem OOC. Trivia though: Issei's meeting with Asia in this fic is a direct parody of Canon (In Anime Canon, it was sunny and Issei was talking about the weather in an attempt to start up conversation).**

 **And next chapter I'll finally post Issei's skills and abilities and stats. Though I feel that the wall of text is more a less a cheat code for longer chapters, but If I don't put it in, I think people might start to forget that this is a gamer fic ^_^'**

 **Do kindly tell me what you felt about this one, was it cool or magnificent? Did it suck or would you want read it again if you could forget it?**

 **See ya.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	15. Anomaly I: Dust and Shadows

**A/N: What's up! Guess who's back from exile? *performs substitution jutsu to escape from angry mob* eh heh... so yeah, I know it's been almost four months since I last posted an update and for that you have my apologies! College is a bitch, Nuff said.**

 **In any case, I'd like to present to you guys the first part of the three part conclusion of this arc of the story. This chapter - which starts with a little something I should have added last chapter but forgot to do so - should be enough to wet your appetites eh? Eh?**

 **Ahem.**

 **Now to the story.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Anomaly I: Dust and Shadows**

* * *

 **Earlier – 5:30 AM**

 **Kuoh Anglican Church**

 _Ping!_

 **Blackmail has gone up by 5!**

 **Bluff has gone up by 3!**

Closing his notifications, Issei turned his attention to the three Fallen Angels who were looking none too pleased at the teen, with the expression 'if looks could kill' applying itself very literally. Understandable, considering he just threatened to turn them into zombies if they didn't accept his demands.

The rumbling of thunder echoed overhead and Issei took in a deep breath as he prepared himself to effectively make one of the craziest decisions he would ever make in his life.

"Lighten up," Issei said "If you three glare any harder you'll short circuit your brains."

"Mark my words," said Kalawarner "I will see to it that you live to regret the day you made this decision Hyoudou."

Said decision was the contracts in Issei's possession that literally signed off the girls souls to him. The contract was one hundred per cent in his favor, their souls belonged to him, and should they refuse to do his bidding, there was a special surprise waiting for them.

The contract would only be void upon his death, so that pretty much guaranteed that he had his own small army of minions that would heed his every word.

Issei wasn't fazed at her threats however "And a cliché comeback to you too." He walked over to the three girls and handed over thick envelopes to Kalawarner and Mittelt.

"Alright girls, I've given you your tasks, you know what to do." Issei said, and watched as the two fallen angels took off into the early morning sky.

"And I?" Raynare asked, almost afraid to find out the answer "Why am I still here? If you plan on turning me into your personal amusement then-"

"What is it with women assuming that I'm going to turn them into my sex slaves or something," Issei said pointing at his face "Do I really give out the impression that I'd do something like that?"

"Maybe it's the eyes," Raynare said, her tone dripping with sarcasm "Or the black get-up. What is with the black get-up anyway?"

"It makes me stealthier."

"Sure it does," She said dryly and began gesturing her hands in the air like someone who was blind "I can barely see you at all."

Issei's left eye twitched. "You know I can still throw you back into the pit of zombies right?"

"You _can_ , but you won't." Raynare's wings flapped up behind her as she floated in the air horizontally, as though she was propped up on a chair.

"Do you wish to test your luck?" Issei inquired curiously.

"You need me, _us_ for something. It would be a waste of _resources_ if you were to kill me off now." the Fallen angel smirked "So until I do whatever it is you want me to do for you, I'm currently indispensible."

"Well someone's actually smarter than they look." The gamer was grinning.

"And someone's much stronger than they look." She countered "Surprises all round, and it isn't even breakfast yet."

Issei's grin was stretching widely. "You believe you're indispensible? What makes you think that I haven't already placed a contingency plan should one poor fallen angel piss me off end up as bloody smear on the floor?"

Raynare flew directly into Issei's face and stared at his eyes with a smirk "If you had such an elaborate back-up plan, you wouldn't have bothered coming here in the first place now would you?"

"Not to mention…" she added "You _can't_ bring yourself to kill me."

"And what form of madness would make you believe that?"

"Because," Raynare took a step forward "I have served madmen, warmongers and cold-blooded murderers. And if there is anything I have learned from watching them, it is that killers have a certain look in their eyes that no one else can match."

She locked her gaze with his. "You don't have that look in your eyes Hyoudou Issei."

She paused, her fingers trailing alongside his face.

" _Not yet_."

The Gamer took a step back, his own mind chastising himself for the brief mental slip, he had allowed the Fallen Angel into his psyche and he knew that it was Raynare's victory as the mischievous woman's lips twisted into a satisfied smirk. Issei's mind was turning, the woman in front of him was equal parts intelligence and cunning that should not have been possible if his assumptions were to be believed. He was of the opinion that she was simply a weak Fallen Angel who was nothing more than cannon fodder following orders, but now?

"I never did take you for a shy one Raynare," Issei joked "You didn't seem to have such wisdom when your friends were here now did you?"

"Friends?" she said in a tone of distinct disbelief "A perverted being who fell from heaven due to her own foolish desires to tempt men with her child-like form, yet despises any who calls into question her chest size…" She paused to shake her head "…And an honor bound fool who doesn't realize that honor means nothing to the Fallen? Please, those two are not even worthy of being considered my acquaintances."

"And I am?"

"You are certainly not the worst company I could find myself in such a predicament with." She gestured to the ruined church which Issei could only cringe at the sight.

"A guy and a fallen angel in a destroyed church surrounded by the unconscious bodies of exorcists," Issei said "Such a romantic scene."

"Romance is overrated." Raynare moved forward and pressed herself against the teen, "Do you know what isn't?"

"I have a pretty good idea."

"Humor me Issei. Picture the scene, a fallen angel, scantily dressed, chained against her will to the human who summoned her…"

"First, I didn't summon you. Second, don't phrase things in a way that makes it sound like the premise of a cheesy hentai plot."

"A plot I'm certain you've pictured yourself within, more than once." Her breath hit against his skin as she slunk her hands into his shirt "I highly doubt you'd be opposed to the idea of a _live action_ adaptation?"

Issei was finding himself unexpectedly short of words. He could feel her nipples rub against his chest as she draped her arms around his neck, and her breath tickled his skin.

"What do you say?" she whispered her lips moving closely to his "I'm _all yours_ …"

Issei's hands moved to her chest as they cupped the feel of the woman's bountiful bosoms, letting the Fallen Angel moan in a way that tightened Issei's boxers.

"Before we continue, I have only one thing to say."

"And what would that be?"

"How _stupid_ do you think I am?"

 _Clang!_

Time stood at a standstill, both combatants bodies moving from that of a seductive encounter to that of assassin and target within seconds. A Holy sword and a dagger of pure light clashed against each other at the very split second, and even Issei was impressed with the fact that Raynare had used her _wings_ of all things as appendages to try and stab him in the back.

"How did you-"

"This isn't the first time someone tried to seduce me," Issei paused "Though it is the first time someone tried to seduce me in order to kill me. You had one chance though, and you blew it."

In actuality, no assassination attempt cooked up by the Fallen Angel would have worked as long as she was within Issei's field of vision. His Perfect Vision was a godsend due to the fact that he could notice even the tiniest of changes that occurred around him, such as an ant that had crawled underneath a rock or a leaping cricket launching into the night in an attempt to find its next meal. Not to mention the fact that the perk gave him a higher field of vision than most humans, almost reaching 240 degrees. It was almost child's play for him to pick up on the tension in Raynare's wings and how she constantly angled her body to hide her incoming assault.

Raynare grit her teeth "It seems I underestimated how distracted you'd be." She leaped back, putting some distance between the two as her facial expression calmed.

"I admit it was a good try," Issei said "Though you were kind of overselling it a little, and it'd have worked better if you kissed me instead of delaying. Try not to lay it on too thickly next time."

"I'll take that advice to heart." Raynare dryly noted "You wouldn't mind being a gentleman and letting me try that again now would you?"

"Only if you do so completely naked," Issei said "You never know, I might be so distracted that I'd see the dagger coming but I wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

Raynare looked at the teen wagging his eyebrows and shook her head "You're insane."

"And you're not exactly the poster girl for a sound mind either!" Issei said with a laugh "It takes a certain level of courage or madness to attack someone who _literally_ owns your soul and can kill you in more ways than you can count."

Despite his laughter, Raynare never once forgot the type of situation she was in. It took an extremely dangerous person or an extremely arrogant person to shrug off a failed assassination attempt and then begin conversing with his attacker as though it was common occurrence. Unfortunately for her, Issei had already proven that he wasn't arrogant.

Was she to count herself lucky that she was fighting against someone who was a pervert and as such would not wish to harm her? She knew that if she had tried that stunt with anybody else, she would have most likely been dead this instant. _Especially_ seeing as how he had already shown the multiple devious ways he could kill her.

Issei on the other hand was having different thoughts. Issei remembered fully well that she had two names when he scanned her with his Observe ability last time. It was a guess, and it was something that would have been overlooked had it none been for Issei's tendency to carefully analyze the exact wordings of things.

Issei remembered what he had read from her bio: **'Yuuma Amano' is the** **alias** **undertaken** **by the fallen angel Raynare in her side mission to eliminate Hyoudou Issei due to the potential he possessed to be in possession of a powerful Sacred Gear.**

He had scanned her _alias_ earlier, which meant, that was simply a cover for the true person underneath.

With the aid of his Perfect Vision, Issei channeled energy into his eyes and mentally commanded ' _Observe - Raynare_ _._ '

 **Raynare Lv. 39**

 **Title: The Seductress**

 **Race: Fallen Angel**

 **Class: Mid-Class**

 **Age: N/A**

 **Occupation(s): Infiltrator, Spy, Saboteur**

 **Alignment: Neutral Evil**

 **HP: 3750/3750**

 **LM: 2550/2550**

 **Strength: 24**

 **Vitality: 42**

 **Dexterity: 30**

 **Intelligence: 67**

 **Wisdom: 39**

 **Luck: 16**

 **Charisma** **:** **20**

 **Current Emotions: Uncertain**

 **Current Status Effects: [Soul Bind]**

 **Bio: Raynare is one of the few Fallen Angels belonging to the Inner Circle of the Leader of the Grigori, Azazel. Trained personally by the man himself, she was sent by Azazel to infiltrate Kokabiel's midst as a spy and deliver information about his progress and activities. To maintain her cover, she adopts an alias named "Yuuma Amano" and attempts to kill Hyoudou Issei, however, her failure made Kokabiel underestimate her capability, which is exactly what the spy desires.**

' _Now this I can work with!_ ' Issei let out a laugh as he shook his head at the surprising twist. Raynare was a spy, that was something not even _he_ had factored into his plans. The acting of the Fallen Angel was so believable that Issei would be hard pressed to find anyone else who could match.

"Care to share what's so funny?"

"It's an inside joke."

Raynare rolled her eyes at the statement "Well considering you haven't killed me or thrown me back into that hell hole yet, I assume it was a very funny joke."

"It'll be even funnier once I send you off on your little task now." Issei said as he stretched out his arms and then glanced around and looked at the wreckage of the church.

The building had been obliterated in their brief battle, and it was clearly no longer habitable. Admittedly, the building had been abandoned before, but now, pedestrians would note as to how it had suddenly fallen into a state of disrepair.

Clouds rumbled overhead which made Issei slightly muse the sudden change in weather before he glanced back to Raynare who had been finally sat down on a rock, coming to the conclusion that it would be unwise to launch any further attacks on the teen.

"You work for Azazel don't you?"

Her face morphed into one of surprise "I don't-"

A liberal application of Sprint made him appear in front of her with Poker Face he stared down seriously " _Don't_ lie to me."

"I can tolerate you trying to kill me, bantering with me, insulting me or making fun of me, but _never_ lie to me. Is that clear?"

' _Holy shit!'_ "Y-yes." A serious Hyoudou Issei was a scary Hyoudou Issei.

"Now I'll ask again, you work for Azazel don't you?"

"Y-yes, I work under him."

"How convenient. Here's what I need you to do," Issei began, his face cheerfully lightening up which made it all the more surreal "Find Azazel and deliver a message to him for me."

Raynare ignored the bead of sweat that ran down her forehead "What message?"

Bringing out what would hopefully be the last pieces of paper from his inventory, Issei scribbled down several notes as quickly as he could, and then he the piece of paper into half and placed it into a make-shift envelope.

"Tell him it's from," Issei said as he handed over the paper to Raynare "The Red Dragon Emperor."

No sooner had he uttered those words did recognition flicker across Raynare's face, recognition, and unbelievable horror. Her eyes flashed down to the gauntlet on his arm and she almost slapped herself for not realizing it sooner. This teen, this pseudo-insane perverted mastermind was in possession of one of the most powerful sacred gears in existence, one of the absurdly rare Thirteen Longinus, which possessed the powers to slay gods. He possessed the Boosted Gear, and that meant that he wielded the power of the Welsh Dragon, Ddraig.

There was no one in all three factions who did not know of the two Heavenly Dragons, as the beings had been so powerful during their rampage, that it had caused all three factions to band together and form a truce simply so they could defeat the two beings.

And this boy, had that sort of power within him?

Oh no, Raynare wasn't stupid. Power was the most precious thing to her, Azazel and Kokabiel might have been powerful, but the Boosted Gear doubled the power of the user to exponential levels, to the point in which she knew it would only be a matter of time before he would become more powerful than those two combined.

"What do I do after I've delivered the letter?"

"Whatever it is you normally do." Issei said "Give him no reason to believe that your loyalties lie elsewhere."

He needed to keep a close eye on his enemies and potential allies, especially since he possessed the Exodus Switch. He didn't know Azazel well, but if his obsession with Sacred Gears was true, then there was a high chance that he'd become obsessed with Issei should he ever find out that the teen had the Exodus Switch. It would be best if Issei knew the man's every move before he made them.

"And do my loyalties lie elsewhere?" Raynare asked, a coy smile slowly forming on her lips.

"You tell me," Issei stalked forward, and gazed the woman into her eyes "With who do your loyalties lay?"

"With who it has always been," she said without missing a beat "the winning side."

"And which side would that be exactly?"

"I suppose we'll find out before the day is over."

Issei couldn't help the serene smile that fell upon his lips. Even as the beautiful Fallen Angel already began moving.

"I suppose we will."

Raynare turned away from the boy as she stared into the open hole of the collapsed roof, her wings already in motion.

"You're a smart boy with a ton of potential Hyoudou," Raynare said "Don't die."

It was somewhat amusing, watching Raynare leave the church in a burst of speed provided by her wings. The Gamer shook his head and took in a deep breath, knowing that things were only going to get more difficult from here on.

 _Ping!_

 **Through a special action of identifying a spy, and taking control of said operative for your own means, you have unlocked a special feature.**

 **You have unlocked -** **Pulvis et Umbra Sumus**

Issei blinked at the notification in confusion.

" _Any idea as to what that means?_ " Ddraig asked.

It took a while before his mind slowly attempted to fill in the translation "It's Latin… I think it means, 'We are but dust and shadows.'"

 **We are the shadows on the wall, the silent that answer the call, at every door and every hall, standing firm and standing tall. We are the unsuspecting servants, the jester who gallants, the ones you think complaisant, and the ones utmost observant.**

 **You have unlocked your own Personal Spy-Network –** **Umbra Sumus** **. With this, you can recruit characters of notable skills in reconnaissance to your aide, and you can continue to expand your spy-network across various realms and dimensions until it becomes the largest in existence.**

 **But of course, only you would be aware that such a network even existed.**

 **Your Spy Network is currently at Level 1, and requires proper maintenance to become the stuff of legends. Maintaining a spy-network involves maintaining a high relationship level with every single member involved, and at the maximum level, you can turn your network into a secret religion or cult that would have your members willing to commit suicide than betray you or expose your secrets.**

 **Prestige also plays a key role in your spy network, with higher prestige, you can acquire higher quality spies and more operations would become available.**

 **Maintaining a spy network also requires certain incentives and motivations for people to obey you. It is up to you to either use coercion, blackmail, force, bribes or any means at your disposal to recruit members and expand the growth of the network.**

 **Current Members:**

 **Raynare: – Assigned to Spy on Azazel – Mission Length: Not-Specified**

 **Current Operations Available:**

 **None.**

Issei shook his head at the ludicrous nature of it all, he had minions and partners who had no idea what his true goal, was involved in a conspiracy, and gained his very own double-agent in the midst of the most powerful Fallen Angel in the world.

Had he failed to mention that he had achieved all this, _before_ breakfast?

"This is going to be the longest fourteen hours of my life." Issei said with a sigh.

Regardless of that notion though, he was fully aware that he had already set into motion a series of events that would change the world.

He only hoped it would be for the better.

* * *

 **~~~~~ DxD – Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**

 **Present Time – 8:05 AM**

 **Forest**

 **Several Miles on the Outskirts of Kuoh**

As a leader of the Grigori and as a being who had survived a Holy War, things such as assassination attempts were not uncommon to the cadre class Fallen Angel. He had fought battles against insanely powerful beings, and though he himself did not possess twelve wings that would indicate the pinnacle of the angel hierarchy, he was still an insanely powerful being himself.

Yet, despite his numerous years in power, despite all his wisdom in the art of war, he had never seen or endured such a blatantly _brazen_ assassination attempt.

Of course he hadn't! No one actually used assassination tactics these days because most failed to actually succeed and everyone wanted the thrill of a long and satisfying battle where you utterly crushed your opponent with your own skills and abilities.

The Satans, the Gods, Buddhas, Deities, Titans and legends were all glory-driven hounds who would prefer to effortlessly crush their opponents by showing off their skills, to even _think_ of attempting an assassination.

Certainly none of them would think of an assassination attempt using a _letter bomb_.

The tall being literally exploded out of a cloud of collapsed rubble as he panted viciously. His clothes had been utterly decimated in the explosion, leaving him bare-chested and with his pants in tatters. His skin was marred with the equivalent of third-degree burns, and had gotten red and black in certain parts, and he wheezed slightly with each breath as the shockwave from the attack had done a reasonable amount of damage to his internal organs.

And his wings, his previously beautiful ten wings were completely ruined. He had used the wings to shield himself from the blast, so it was expected as much. Three of them bent in awkward angles, and were unbelievably damaged to the point that attempting to even as much as touch them would cause unimaginable pain, while another four of them had been completely eradicated, with nothing to show for their previous existence. It left him with only three heavily burnt wings that were usable, with two on his left side and one on his right.

Kokabiel, despite himself, despite the anger he felt at being so stupid enough to have easily brushed off the letter, despite looking around and realizing that his laboratory and hide-out had been completely destroyed, even as the rain pounded down on him, he couldn't help but grin.

There was a slightly manic grin on his face that he could not help but maintain. Oh, he was going to enjoy personally tracking down that boy, no, that _man_ Hyoudou Issei who had actually had the gall to attempt to kill him.

He would find the man, and they would fight, and Kokabiel would utterly annihilate him, he would make the man regret ever attempting to interfere with his plans.

Kokabiel spat out a tooth that had been knocked loose and licked away the coppery taste of blood from his mouth as he glanced at the wreckage. The hideout had been _underground_ ; yet, the explosion had utterly destroyed it and left a giant crater huge enough for two jumbo jets to be parked side by side inside it with ease.

The crater was weirdly shaped like a blend of spider-web cracks and a seven pointed star, covering as much of the land as possible, and leaving what looked like a giant mark permanently etched into the soil.

The destructive power alone was simply astonishing. Had he not reacted quickly enough, there was no doubt that he would have died. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for anyone else who had been in the hideout.

It hadn't taken much effort to find the pile of ash that Kokabiel _knew_ belonged to Valper Galilei. The priest was just a normal human, for all his mouth and bravado, and his body could not handle the sheer vaporizing effect of the blast.

And yet, Valper was the lucky one. Everyone else was simply gone, utterly vanished, there was not even any ash left of them to prove their existence. He could not find any trace of his lieutenant Dohnaseek, nor could he see any traces of Mittelt and Kalawarner. Nor could he find traces of the several hundred exorcists he had under his command, who were more or less pawns, but they had possessed their uses.

In one strike, he had been stripped bare of everything he had worked to attain. In _one_ strike.

At this thought, Kokabiel stopped grinning. And his lips morphed, and changed, into a massive, manic scowl, veins bulged on his forehead as his skin changed into a reddish hue that spoke of tremendous hatred and his entire face contorted into one of pure, unspeakable rage.

Killing intent flooded the entire forest, killing weaker animals with the sheer intensity alone as it manifested in a physical form as a shockwave pressure of air.

"Holy fucking shit!"

Kokabiel spun as he directed his anger to the sudden voice, only to stare on in surprise as he spotted his test subject, the silver haired man, crawl out of the wreckage.

One half of the beings body was completely burned, even his face had the skin melted off and showed the skeletal structure of his face. Kokabiel managed to subdue his anger enough to wonder how the silver-haired man had even survived in the first place.

"Serves you motherfuckers right! Ha! You cunts think you can experiment on me? You just got nuked motherfucker!" The man said as he rolled on the floor and wheezed "Fuck, I'm not sure if it was Deidara's motherfucking great-grandson or shit, but I've got to meet the guy that can turn you crow assed faggots into roast chicken."

"Give me one valid reason," Kokabiel said through gritted teeth "Why I shouldn't kill you now?"

"I'm _immortal,_ bitch." The silver haired man said "You _can't_ kill me."

The Fallen Angel paused, his anger slightly subsiding as he realized that it was a _valid_ reason after all. Though the man's flesh had melted off on one side of his body, he had still survived the explosion, which would have killed any lesser being.

It didn't stop Kokabiel from lifting the man up in the air by the neck, squeezing tight as he looked for a way to release the anger building up in him.

"I despise you immortals," Kokabiel spat "You and that blasted Uzumaki are cut from the same cloth, wasting away your gifts when you could become invincible."

Hidan stopped struggling.

"Did you just fucking say Uzumaki?" the question came out cold and calculated, almost unlike the rowdy man. "As in, Uzumaki-fucking-Naruto?"

That caught the Fallen Angel off guard. The only people in the world who knew that there was an insane immortal sage wandering the earth named Uzumaki Naruto were those who had participated in the Last Holy War. Not even the current Four Satans knew of his existence and to everyone else, he was nothing but an urban legend.

"You know of him?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino," he said slowly, because after hundreds of years had passed, he would never forget those names, and he planned on killing their descendants for the eons he had been trapped in that hole.

"And Nara-bloody-fucking Shikamaru. I'm not going to die until I find anyone and everyone related to those motherfuckers and make them SUFFER!"

Kokabiel glanced at the strange human. He wasn't much use, but he was the last thing he had in his entire operation to turn humans into fallen angels. The man was a complete and utter fool to even believe that he could harm the Uzumaki, but Kokabiel did not need to tell him that. No, he would let the man continue in his delusions for mean time – he would prove more useful to him that way.

"Well then," Kokabiel said, lowering the human unto the ground "The person who nuked us was working for Uzumaki Naruto. And he is also a descendant of this… Nara Shikamaru."

The silver-haired man suddenly had red eyes.

Kokabiel smirked. The human would serve as cannon-fodder at the very least, but he was immortal, so he would serve as a rather tough cannon-fodder.

"What the fuck are we waiting for? An invitation or a fucking squire to wave our banners? Let's go find that motherfucker so I can rip his spine out his ass and shove it down his throat!"

"No."

"No? What the fuck do you mean by no?"

Kokabiel furrowed his lips. He had severely underestimated his opponent, and that had left him woefully unprepared for a singular attack that annihilated all his forces. He was injured and reduced to a fraction of his full power; it would be beyond ridiculous of him to charge forward against his enemy as he was now.

Clearly the attack was meant as bait to incite him, to stir him into desiring a quick and hasty retaliation. His pride was shattered and his army in pieces, and he was going against an opponent of which he knew next to nothing about.

It would be suicide.

Yet, despite knowing this, his blood boiled over as he wanted nothing more than to nuke the entirety of the city as revenge. If he attacked, he would face unexpected resistance and could very well lose, if he didn't, history would forever record him as being the Fallen Angel who had retreated from an attack by a mere human, to lick his wounds and bide his time.

In whatever scenario that he could imagine, the outcome would not be in his favor. He was essentially being held a hostage of decisions, and no matter what he did, this Hyoudou Issei would win.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize that there was never even a possibility of decisions for him to begin with.

"Can you fucking feel that?" Hidan said, glancing around.

Kokabiel turned to the silver haired man in confusion, before he felt it as well, a large build-up of energy, one that could not be hidden no matter how much the caster tried.

He hadn't thought about it before, but now that he realized it, Kokabiel instantly knew that there was something wrong with the scene of the explosion.

"Explosions shouldn't leave _web_ -like cracks in the ground…" Kokabiel's eyes widened almost the same time as Hidan's.

"Shit! It's a fucking seal!"

Like clockwork, the spider-web cracks turned into black lines that spread across the rubble of the collapsed hideout and easily caught the two beings within its grasp.

' _Planting a sealing array_ inside _of an explosion_ inside _of a letter?'_ Kokabiel thought in disbelief ' _Who in the world is this Hyoudou Issei?_ '

The member of the Grigori then realized that he wasn't just the victim of a failed assassination attempt.

He was the victim of a successful abduction.

* * *

~~~~~ _Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~_

 **Kuoh Academy**

 **8:30 AM**

No sooner had Issei stepped through the occupied halls of Kuoh Academy, watching as students stared at his state of dress had he been assaulted by a wall of text in the form of notifications.

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 **Triple Kill!**

 **Quadruple Kill!**

 **Multi-Kill!**

 **Gained a boosted 56,000 EXP!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **You have gained 2 perk points!**

 **You have gained 30 stat points!**

 **You made an attempted assassination against a well-known figure in the world. You have gained 1,000 Prestige. You can now bail yourself and others out of jail for a steep fee in the human realm. You can now invest and buy small and medium scale businesses in the human realm. You can now seek an audience with known Yakuza members and Mafia lieutenants in the human realm. You can now seek an audience with merchants and those of the lower-class in the Supernatural realms.**

 **You killed Valper Galilei – Unlocked Companion Quest: "The Knight Remembers".**

 **You killed Dohnaseek – Unlocked Underworld Quest: "The Tome of Armaros".**

 **You have unlocked several new operations for** **Pulvis et Umbra Sumus.**

There was a greatly satisfying feeling to knowing that Dohnaseek was no longer a threat, as well as knowing that the angel had finally died for good. The Null Void rune that had saved him last time was only prolonging the inevitable, though Issei still wished he had strangled angel with his own hands.

Regardless, for the time being he had relocated Asia to a safe-house in one of Kuoh's upstate hotels and put her under a deep sleep. It had cost him a huge amount of his savings, and he had gotten quite the odd number of looks for doing so, but he knew that he would be able to regain his money later, and that the location he had Asia in was safe.

He had once debated the notion of utilizing Asia in his plan, but he decided against it. Regardless of how useful her Twilight Healing could be in a battlefield, the girl was an easy target for his enemies, and he couldn't risk putting her in harm's way.

"Is that Hyoudou-san?"

"Why is he dressed like that?"

"Did he dye his hair?"

The teen was sporting a form-fitted black long coat, lined with multiple pockets that was left unbuttoned and swayed with the howling winds, within it was a similarly dark t-shirt fabric that seemingly granted better mobility, and below it was a pair of dark combat trousers that were perfectly tucked in to a pair of boots and he completed the set with a pair of fingerless gloves of matching color with his outfit.

" _Sleep_. "

No one could really understand what was going on, but it became suddenly apparent when everyone began seeing beautiful white feathers, glowing with the brightness of a harvest moon, and dancing all around them like leaves in the fall.

One, by one, they all went down.

Girls slumped to the floor, their eyes becoming anchors that they could not hold, boys collapsed on the spot, falling face first, and entering into a peaceful snoring slumber from which they would not wake unless he willed it. Teachers and staff alike fell under the spell of his amplified technique, swaying in their place like a flag assaulted by sea breeze, their legs turning to wet noodles as they too succumbed to the effects of his technique.

Within seconds, the entire school was ghost-silent, only the heavy pounding of rain drops tattering like little drumsticks against the building could be heard, playing as the eerie anthem of beings who shattered the boundaries of humanity.

And then, the devils came forward.

Leading the group were the two Kings of their respective peerages, one smaller and shorter, with her glasses reflecting the light of the room, and her lips tightened and her gait firm, she was followed by her peerage, trailing behind her as ants would move on a queue, totally dependent and utterly trusting the judgment of their king to lead them to victory.

The other, was slightly taller, illogically beautiful and possessed blood-red hair which flowed as a river, her gait was quick, her face was in a constant flux of emotions, her palms sweaty and her eyes gazing towards Issei with a blend of respect and distrust all at the same time. Behind her stood a black haired beauty, whose smile seemed to indicate her as a friend of the world, but beneath that layer, Issei could almost feel the amount of hatred she had for him. Following her were two others, the handsome, enigmatic pretty-boy face of Yuuto Kiba, the Knight of Rias, and the small, ever permanent blank expression of Koneko Toujou, the Rook of Rias' peerage.

"Have they been briefed?" Issei turned to Sona, Tsubasa and Rias, in which the first two nodded, while the last gave a more reluctant response. It was understandable, considering that the Crimson Princess still could not believe that she was duped into fighting what seemed like a losing battle.

"They all know who we're fighting and why we're fighting him. The only thing left for them now is you." Sona said with a lip twitching in a weird blend of amusement and seriousness "I suppose all that's left is for them to be introduced to their 'Commander.'"

This was the moment of truth he supposed. Issei took in a deep breath, and then he calmed himself, relaxed his mind, feeling the Gamer's Mind comes into effect.

 **Charisma Check Required!**

' _Charisma Check? Fuck that._ _Blackmail_ _Bluff_ _Fallacy_ _Mystify_ _Poker Face_."

 _Ping!_

 **Chaotic Response Selected!**

"I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed to give some form of peppy inspirational speech in order to fire you all up."

Almost everybody sweatdropped at the utterly blunt nature of which Issei made his introduction.

Sona muttered under her breath as she tried to refrain from face-palming herself, after spending time convincing everyone that Issei was a mastermind who knew what he was doing, he ruins all her work with a single sentence.

"There is no speech." Issei said "I'm not going to tell you to fight for honor, or for glory, or for sacrifice or because it is right. I'm not going to tell you to fight for this school which would most likely be destroyed if you don't, or for the city as a whole."

Thunder boomed and Issei's eyes seemed to sharpen "Don't fight for the kids playing down the street, wondering why their parents don't want them in the rain, don't fight for the surly old woman at the bakery that makes lovely gingerbread treats, or the retired old veteran behind the cul-de-sac that makes the best Taiyaki in Kuoh and can ramble endlessly about his time in the last war."

In a brilliant flash of green light, a red gauntlet appeared on Issei's arm which he raised high and then spoke with a cold, calm tone that stood in contradistinction to the abject shock and surprise on the faces of most of the devils as they recognized the gauntlet on his arm.

"My name is Hyoudou Issei, the Wielder of one of the Thirteen Longinus, the bearer of the Welsh Dragon, and the Boosted Gear, yet, I do not want you to fight for me." Issei took in a deep breath and dropped his arm.

"Ultimately, when we face the enemy, I don't matter, those people don't matter, this school won't matter, and this town won't matter." Issei said "The only thing that will matter is you, yourself, your life, your friends, and your loved ones."

The building shook with a rumble, and Issei craned his neck as he began to move.

"So fight for them."

The teen smiled.

" _Fight for you_."

 _Ping!_

 **For utilizing a masterful blend of social skills to deliver an invigorating speech, your Charisma has gone up by 10!**

Their faces were determined, their eyes were focused, their breathing collected, and it seemed that the heavy nervousness which had possessed them beforehand had been washed away by the pounding rain.

"Now, who's ready to go kill a Fallen Angel?"

The malevolent battle cry of devils would forever remain imbedded into Issei's memory.

The surly old woman at the bakery and the retired war veteran at the cul-de-sac would be absolutely proud and thrilled to know that there were people fighting for them.

If only they were _real_.

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

* * *

 **Intermission: Issei's Current Stats**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 25 [17.05%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 940/940**

 **MP: 3750/3750 [Chakra: 1900/1900] [LM/DM: 1875/1875]**

 **Strength: 24**

 **Vitality: 49**

 **Dexterity: 61**

 **Intelligence: 150(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 65 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 12 (+1)(+3)(+47.11)**

 **Charisma: 28 (-1)(+1)(+1.5)(+2)(+3)**

 **Updated Bio: Hyoudou Issei is a quasi-immortal, time-looping teenager whose goal was originally to become a Harem King; before he can do that he has to settle for the task of preventing the apocalypse. He has fought for centuries beside and against enemies of all types, though he has no conscious recollection of the fact. He must however now use his skills to fulfill his goal of preventing the apocalypse by slaying the Eleven Anomalies, whilst the Shadow of Death watches his every move, waiting for him to falter. Who are the anomalies? And what role does Death truly play in the system of the Exodus Switch?**

 **Titles:-**

 **On the Fence [+1 Wis, Bonus EXP to all neutral actions]**

 **Infamous [+2 Wis, + 2 Char, boost to social actions when active].**

 **Anarchy's Incarnate [+1 Luck, Bonus EXP to all Chaotic actions, randomizes the level and type of one enemy per encounter]**

 **True Loner [+3 Int, -1 Char, boost to crafting actions when active]. Confused Emo [+1 Wis +1 Char]**

 **Dark Poet [10% of total Luck to Charisma, grants boost to poetic actions when active]**

 **Gambit King [+2 Int, +3 Luck, 25% Chance to guarantee success of any social interaction]**

 **Patron of the Arts [+2 Int, +2 Wis, boost to all actions when active.],**

 **Reluctant Gentleman [+3 Char, +2 Wis, grants extra boost to social actions with women when active.]**

 **Active Titles: The Gamer [Grants 10% Chance of success in all actions], None.**

 **Points Available: 30**

 **Perk Points Available: 2**

 **Perks: Mr. Renaissance, Gutsy Pervert, Ambidextrous, Lord of The Gambit, Embracer of Shadows, Winchester's Descendant, Perfect Vision.**

 **Money: 71,519 Yen**

 **Achievements: Karma Demon, Sound of Solitude, Renaissance Man, Two For The Price Of One, Perversion Potential, Perverted Sage, Uplifting The Fallen, Will Of Fire.**

 **Skills:-**

 **Combat Skills:-**

 **Beginner Level Fuinjutsu [Active] Lv. 34 [10.21%]**

 **Beginner Level Iaijutsu [Passive] Lv.1 [2.14%]**

 **Beginner Level Kenjutsu [Passive] Lv. 71 [41.20%]**

 **Beginner Level Senjutsu [Passive & Active] Lv. 1 [0.01%]**

 **Beginner Level Taijutsu [Passive] Lv. 87 [45.65%]**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [14.01%]**

 **Critical Strike [Active] Lv. 43 [75.06%]**

 **Dodge [Active] Lv. 39 [4.18%]**

 **Energy Manipulation [Active] Lv.34 [12.03%]**

 **Elemental Mastery [Active] Lv. 1 [0.13%]**

 **Marksmanship [Passive] Lv. 50 [66.66%]**

 **Sleep [Active] Lv. 11 [69.69%]**

 **Parry [Active] Lv. 2 [7.06%]**

 **Exploration Skills:-**

 **Art Mastery [Passive] Lv. 3 [0.89%]**

 **Angel Vision [Active] Lv. 1 [0.92%]**

 **Crafting [Passive] Lv. 1 [24.89%]**

 **Dance Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [3.04%]**

 **Devil's Sight [Active] Lv. 40 [79.10%]**

 **Gamer's Body [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Gamer's Mind [Passive] Lv. Max**

 **ID Create/Escape [Active] Lv. 5 [15.55%]**

 **Kami's Fingers [Active] Lv. 3 [9.46%]**

 **Larceny [Active] Lv. 2 [98.07%]**

 **Major: Arts [Passive] Lv. 31 [34.09%]**

 **Meditate [Active] Lv. 1 [21.56%]**

 **Musical Mastery [Passive] Lv. 1 [1.21%]**

 **Major: Science [Passive] Lv. 39 [23.10%]**

 **Observe [Active] Lv. 42 [31.40%]**

 **Sense Danger [Passive] Lv. 50 [93.14%]**

 **Science Mastery [Passive] Lv. 2 [15.07%]**

 **Sprint [Active] Lv. 61 [60.29%]**

 **Stealth [Passive] Lv. 10 [39.12%]**

 **Tree Walking [Active] Lv. 55 [40.02%]**

 **Water Walking [Active] Lv. 1 [0.00%]**

 **Social Skills:-**

 **Blackmail [Active] Lv. 2 [3.14%]**

 **Bluff [Active] Lv. 7 [45.90%]**

 **Fallacy [Active] Lv. 3 [21.04%]**

 **Mystify [Active] Lv. 2 [2.91%]**

 **Poker Face [Active] Lv. 10 [81.07%]**

 **Special Abilities:-**

 **Forbidden Skills:-**

 **Hallowed Eclipse [Active] Lv. 1 [0.02%]**

 **Revive [Active] Lv. 1 [0.01%]**

 **Sacred Gears:-**

 **Boosted Gear [Active] Lv. 1 [77.14%]**

 **Fuinjutsu Seals:-**

 **Final Twilight – Unique Seal – Space/Time Fuinjutsu – S-Class**

 **Reverse Summoning Seal – Uncommon Seal – Time/Space Fuinjutsu**

 **Storage Seal – Common Seal – Space/Time Fuinjutsu – D-Class**

 **Perk Skills:-**

 **Shadow Control** **[** **Active & Passive] Lv. Max**

 **Sub-Skills:**

 **Shadow Step** **[Active] Lv. 12**

 **Shadow Possession** **[Active] Lv. 12**

 **Shadow Bind** **[Active] Lv. 15**

 **Shadow Anchor** **[Active] Lv. 10**

 **Shade Screen** **[Active] Lv. 3**

 **Equipment:-**

 **Dark Long Jacket – Uncommon – Grants +25 Defense**

 **Black T – Shirt – Common – Grants +10 Defense**

 **Black Combat Trousers – Common – Grants +15 Defense**

 **Black Shoes – Common – Grants +5 Defense**

 **Black Fingerless Gloves – Uncommon – Grants +3 Defense**

 **Prestige Points Available – 1,315**

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

* * *

 **A/N: So, I'll leave it up to you guys to make what you will of the final lines of this chapter. But, things are picking up, Issei modified the Feather Falling Illusion into his own personal sleep spell, while hyping the devils for a suicide mission and discovering that Raynare is a spy. Talk about a busy day. Will Issei's plan succeed? What was the contents of the letter he sent to Azazel? And what happened to Mittlet and Kalawarner?**

 **Find out next time on Dragon of Dragons - Game of the Year Edition!**

 **R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	16. Anomaly I: Where There's Smoke

**A/N: Boom! Ha Ha! Double Update! This is both an apology and a request permission, as I'm posting these two chapters consecutively because I haven't updated in a while, and because since my exams are close by, I might not update in a while. Finally got an awesome 4.01 CGPA and I'll be beyond blessed if I can raise that to a 4.5 or above. But that's just me subtly bragging, and you're not here for that, you're here for the epic unfolding action of this extra-long chapter.**

 **Do Enjoy, my loyal readers.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition**

 **Chapter 15**

 **Anomaly I: Where There's Smoke**

* * *

 **Illusionary Dungeon – Zombies**

In the light of recent events, Sona Sitri believed that she had seen everything the Hyoudou was capable of; she believed she had a good read and handle on his abilities, as well his intellect. It wasn't exactly that he was entirely smarter than her; it was just that he could _think_ faster than her. His mind was capable of coming up with solutions and responding to outside stimuli at least three times faster than what should be possible.

For now, it was just estimation and guesses, as to the origins of his intellect, which she had attributed to be another one of the things surrounding the enigmatic teen. He was powerful, and she was certain that the fact that he was one of the wielders of the thirteen Longinus was not even the entire reason for his power.

No, in spite of all that, she knew no other being, Longinus or not, who possessed the power to create and destroy pocket dimensions as easily as closing and shutting a door. Her extensive readings had gone into detail of certain human mythological heroes of great power that could create their own dimensions, utilizing something called a "Reality Marble", but it was obvious that what Hyoudou had created was no such thing, despite how similar the two appeared.

No, even as her face squished into discomfort from stepping upon the smothered gray-matter of an undead human corpse, and as she breathed in the foul, acrid air that lacked any form of humidity, she could tell that this dimension had far too much attention to detail to be a mere Reality Marble.

Even the battered cars strewn upon the roadside had unique license plates and numbers, the roads and buildings were in a dilapidated state, but they still possessed different shapes and sizes, rather than appearing as static, parallel objects in a procedurally generated universe.

This 'world' was something of god-level ability. By all means and rights, the ability to create an entire city which stretched on for miles, filled to the brim with ferocious hordes of flesh-eating zombies of varying sizes and lethality, was far above and beyond her ability.

Perhaps this dimension was in fact an alternate universe in which mankind had been overrun by the undead, or maybe it was just a parallel version of Kuoh, or maybe it was even a vision of the future. She didn't know, all she did know, was that Hyoudou Issei glanced around and regarded his creation with as much respect and satisfaction as one would regard the act of finishing a bottle of water.

Quite clearly she wasn't the only one lost in her thoughts, as even Rias had certain edginess around her as she glanced at the Hyoudou at the corner of her eyes.

"Sona."

The heiress of the Sitri clan had to avoid freezing in place, as Issei called her name and snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Yes Hyoudou-kun?"

Saji seemed to have had a heart attack at that moment.

"There are a lot of skyscrapers around here. Multiple places for cover, several vantage points and more than enough room for an ambush."

"An ambush?"

"Certainly you didn't think we were going to fight one of the members of the Grigori in one-on-one open combat."

Her lips opened, and then they closed. She wanted to argue the validity of defeating Kokabiel in such a manner that lacked… _honor_ , but she mentally chided herself at the concept of _devils_ fighting with honor. Not to mention after Issei already softened up the Fallen Angel by sending him a bomb.

The party of devils led by a single human teen marched forward, warily, even in this alternate dimension, the weather was slowly turning volatile, thunder boomed overhead and lightning flashed in the clouds.

"Rain? _Here?_ " Issei sounded almost baffled.

Sona glanced at the Red Dragon Emperor who looked up to the sky in bewilderment, and then, in a flash of recognition and emotion than ran through his eyes faster than she could even trace, he was in motion.

"Everyone, scatter!"

Sona spread her wings to fly.

And her world was engulfed in white.

* * *

 **~~~~~Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 _Ping!_

 **You have entered a Boss Zone. Anarchy's Incarnate disabled.**

Issei coughed as he stared at what was formally a beaten and tarnished road, and was now nothing but a giant crater the size of a football field. In the center of the crater, was a massive bolt of light, which stood as a monument to the destructive power of the attack. Thankfully, everyone seemed to have been able to escape from the blast range in time, looking slightly ruffled but not injured.

' _I'm sure I summoned Hidan and Kokabiel into the thickest, most vicious nest of zombies in this place. Did they clear them out quickly enough to ambush us?_ '

In hindsight, the gamer should have known that not even the most ferocious zombies could keep a Cadre Class Fallen Angel occupied for too long.

Honestly this was going to get needlessly complicated. If it were up to him, Issei would have simply have closed the Instant Dimension the minute he was certain that Hidan and Kokabiel had arrived within via his reverse-summoning seal. He wasn't one hundred per cent sure, but there a significantly good chance that they'd die from being inside of a dimension that had been annihilated.

However, Issei had to do all this and more, due to his promise to Sona to make her dreams come true. Issei was a man of his word however, and as such, he intended on making through on that promise.

Said promise had actually materialized in the form of a quest that _could not_ be cancelled.

 **Romance Quest – [Ongoing]!**

 **To Love Thy Demons – Part 1**

 **She has been described as cold, mysterious, witty and intelligent. Nonetheless, she is the object of your affections – Sitri Sona, the heir to the Sitri Clan. All you have to do to win her heart, her soul and her body… is to win her the world. Her dreams are your dreams, and her enemies are your enemies.**

 **Primary Objectives** **:-**

 **Elevate Sitri Sona's Prestige via any Means Possible**

 **Bonus Objectives** **:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 40,000 EXP! Gain Romantic Partner: Sitri Sona, Unlocks 'Dating Mode', Gain skill: "Inveigle", Gain +2000 Prestige, Gain Access to Sitri Clan Library, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonus Rewards: 10,000 EXP per bonus objective, Possible Threesome with ? and ?, Gain Weapons ?, ? and ?, Unlocks two new Skills and Abilities.**

 **Failure: Utterly Destroys reputation with Sona Sitri, Rias Gremory, the Sitri Clan, the Gremory Clan, The Occult Research Club and the Student Council. Possible Death.**

Ultimately, Issei was rolling with it because the Quest had already been accepted and he was incredibly intrigued with one of the bonus rewards, but nonetheless, he had his contingency plans in place to reverse-summon everyone out of the dimension and close it should anything go awry.

 _Clap._

 _Clap._

 _ **Clap**_ _._

The slow, repetitive sound of sarcastic applause reached the Gamer's ears and drew him out of his musings, and Issei turned around to find the origin, finally coming face to face with the cadre class Fallen Angel for the first time.

He stood at the top of a skyscraper, his form still prominent despite the three hundred foot distance between the summit of the building and the ground floor on which the devils stood. His legs were held together in attention, arms crossed, his body marred with injuries, his clothes shredded to pieces and his face caked with blood, but yet, none of the devils had ever faced a sight quite as intimidating as the man.

"So we meet at last," Kokabiel said, his voice echoing throughout the desolate world with ease "Red Dragon Emperor, Hyoudou Issei." Kokabiel spat out the name with more venom than Issei thought possible.

"And you must be Kokabiel." Issei said "I take it you got my letter?"

"Of course, or perhaps you had meant to send your bomb trap to some other Fallen Angel?" The angel said glibly "I had expected more. I have fought against the Enforcers of Hades, your measly undead human trash was nothing more than a minor annoyance."

As though to emphasize his point, Kokabiel spun and threw forward another bolt of light as though it was a javelin and he was an Olympic gymnast. The bolt soared for miles, and utterly decimated an incoming horde that had been attracted to the sound of the first blast.

Issei let out a breath. So the rumors about powerful beings capable of decimating cities and countries with their attacks weren't unfounded.

"Tell me boy!" Kokabiel said with a powerful bellow "What is your reason for seeking out this provocation? Do you truly expect me to believe that you are doing this out of some misguided attempt at fame or glory?"

"Fame and glory are rather decent motivators."

"Not for men of keen intellect." Kokabiel said with a shake of his head "You've proven yourself far too capable to be doing this for such trivial reasons."

Issei's eyebrows rose, Kokabiel was far shrewder than the Gamer had given him credit for. It was the same thing with Raynare, people he had stereotyped as your basic bland archetypes just kept surprising him with more and more tricks up their sleeves.

"I could use a man like you on my side, Red Dragon Emperor." Kokabiel said, "Azazel is already monopolizing the White Dragon Emperor, and I'm not opposed to working together to topple those two. With your intellect and my power and influence, we could become strong enough to overthrow the gods themselves."

Issei's lips had already completed the sentence before his mind completed it "You want me to _join_ you? _You?_ A crazy warmonger that wants to bring about another Holy War just because you can't find other things to do with your time?"

Kokabiel's eyes hardened and there was a burst of killing intent that manifested as a strong gale of wind.

"Tell me Red Dragon Emperor, what is a hunter without a beast? What is a man without an enemy?" Kokabiel's eyes sharpened and his presence seemed to magnify.

"What is a _god_ without a _devil_?

The question hung like an aura of death around the devils, Sona found herself staring at Kokabiel with some sort of understanding, while Issei did his best to keep silent, knowing the power of a rhetorical question was best achieved without any need for a snappy answer.

"You cannot deny it Red Dragon Emperor, even amongst your race, it was not during the peaceful eras of humanity that you gained advanced technological capabilities, it was not while men and women sat at their homes, comfortable and fat that they gained the drive to create, invent and improve!"

"Warfare might have led to technological advancement," Issei said, "But the people were improving so that they no longer desired the need to fight. So that they didn't have to watch their families go off to fight a pointless war."

"Pointless? No. Conflict is the foundation of evolution. Those who died did so because they were not strong enough. Those who lived instead became stronger." The Fallen Angel said, as he gestured towards the post-apocalyptic world "It is, and it has always been about the survival of the fittest".

The Fallen Angel chuckled bitterly. "None of those fools can see it. Azazel, Sirzechs and Michael; they think that they do themselves better by sitting down and enjoying their so called peace. They do not realize that they waste their potential, they sacrifice their ability to ascend to higher levels of strengths in an absolutely pitiful attempt to shy away from conflict!"

Issei glanced at Kokabiel through the corner of his eye. Even Rias and Sona were strangely listening to the man's words, despite Rias' obvious anger at the Fallen Angel insulting her brother.

"Did you know, amongst the Seraphs, there exists the potential for them to evolve into a being on the same strength as God himself?"

There was an eerie silence as even the Gamer found himself at a loss of words for the surprising information.

"But because they have not struggled enough, because they have not fought enough, because they have not hit rock bottom and scaled their way up, they will forever remain what they are now – pitiful, weak, _trash_!"

Issei stared at the fallen angel with something akin to understanding. He could relate with the fact that what Kokabiel was saying, was, to a certain extent, true. Even with his Exodus Switch that granted him the power of a video game, it would get needlessly boring if he never had to fight anyone, and never faced a challenge. Similarly, he would remain pitifully weak, because he never fought, as such, he never gained any experience that would lead him to level up and become stronger.

But… was that actually a valid reason to constantly seek warfare? To constantly seek out large scale conflict in order to become stronger? When would you decide that you were strong enough and when would you eventually find peace in your strength?

Issei didn't know. All he knew, is that Kokabiel welcomed his assault on him with far more cold-headed reason than he had anticipated.

The Gamer was beginning to have second thoughts about fighting this man.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe a word of what you say?" Sona asked, her voice possessing a tone of suspicious skepticism. "That the only reason you want war is out of some misguided attempt to improve everyone?"

"What you believe is as important to me as the dust on which you stand girl," Kokabiel said with a dismissive wave of his hand "Unlike you, the freedom granted to me as a Fallen Angel ensures that I need not participate in pointless lies and politicking nor do I bother myself with a pretentious façade of self-righteousness as I did as an Angel."

Kokabiel shook his head "I have been here long enough and time is an asset even I do not take lightly. Red Dragon Emperor! This is your ultimatum: kill the devils with you as proof of your dedication, and I will look past all your transgressions against me. Fail to do so, and your journey to the afterlife will be anything but pleasant."

Before Issei could speak, he glanced around and realized that time had come to a complete standstill.

 _PING!_

 **Ultimatum** **-** **The Angel's Offer!**

 **You have been presented with an ultimatum that will greatly alter the story and even your alignment, depending on the choice selected. Certain titles and skill sets may expand your list of available options during an ultimatum, so be sure to keep an eye out!**

 **Kokabiel has offered to take you under his wing and become partners with him, provided you abandon your current colleagues and acquaintances.**

 **Your Options are:**

 **Join Kokabiel – The Angel will kill Hidan for you providing you prove your loyalty by slaying the devils**

 **Refuse Kokabiel – You declare war on Kokabiel and everyone who has a high relationship status with the Fallen Angel.**

 **[Neutral Response] – You neither accept nor deny Kokabiel's offer, instead, you provide a counter-offer of your own, or attempt to find a perfect balance.**

 **[Chaotic Response] – This results in an answer that is neither what Kokabiel nor anyone else would ever expect. 50/50 Chance of Either Doing the most Badass thing in your life, or dying a slow and horrible death.**

Issei frowned as his mind looked over his options. The fact that he hadn't just outright refused the Angel's offer disturbed him more than it should, despite _Logic_ and _Darkness_ whispering in his ears that it would be far easier to take out Rias and Sona as well as their entire peerage than it would be to take out Kokabiel.

The neutral response would most likely also make him lose the respect of Sona and Rias' as well as their peerages because he had been the one to drag them into the fight in the first place, so trying to weasel out of it was a bad idea.

The chaotic response was also out of it, as he did not find the idea of leaving a decision as important as this to a fifty-fifty chance of something great or terrible happening.

The Gamer sighed, since he had entered his Instant Dimension, he'd neither seen nor heard anything of Hidan, which either meant that the man had died – unlikely, he was certain that he would have received a notification if that was the case – or that he was waiting to ambush the group.

Hidan had been a shinobi after all, one from Naruto's era and he was not to be underestimated, most likely, a large open, empty city like this was probably the worst type of battle ground for Issei to face him, but nonetheless, Issei was certain of his own contingency plans.

 _No plan survives contact with the enemy_. That mantra recited like a broken record in Issei's brain, and despite how much he knew he had planned ahead, there was always this slight feeling in his mind that he had forgone something very important.

Nonetheless, Issei knew that there was no way he could kill the devils even if they turned on him and tried to stab him in the back. Not to mention, Naruto would probably kill him if he took Kokabiel's offer, and if the Immortal Sage didn't do it, either the Lucifer or the Leviathan would be more than pleased to end him.

With that thought in mind – _the entire train of thought being less than two seconds long_ – the Gamer made his decision.

 **You have refused Kokabiel's offer.**

Time returned to normal, and Issei spoke his words cautiously.

"What you fail to realize Kokabiel- _sama_ ," Issei said with a slow, almost taunting drawl "I was able to weaken you and almost kill you with just a little bit of effort and planning that took me _less_ than five hours." The declaration caused everyone, even Sona, to look at him with downright disbelief.

"Impressive, but what of it?"

He paid the gawkers no mind and continued "If I were to become your follower, how long do you think it'd take me to learn everything I need from you, grow stronger than you, and then decide that I have no use for your guidance?"

The temperature had suddenly dropped to freezing levels.

"So that is your answer."

"There's nothing that you can offer me that I can't get by myself Kokabiel," Issei said, raising his gauntlet arm up and pointing at the fallen Angel " _Not even your life._ "

"Such a shame," Kokabiel said with a sigh "You had so much potential Hyoudou Issei, so much potential."

The foreboding words of Raynare echoed in his mind. And it was not the first time someone had pointed out his 'potential'.

"He's not alone here Kokabiel." Sona said, making her voice known as she moved beside the gamer.

"Do you truly believe you can take on all of us in the state that you're in now?" Rias added, taking up position with Issei and Sona.

There was a _beat_.

" _These_ are your allies?" the disbelief and annoyance in the Angel's voice was almost concrete "The heirs to the Sitri and Gremory clans? Two baby devils that have not even participated in a Rating Game yet alone fought a real battle in their lives?" He snorted and continued "You might have put a stuffed tiger in their place and you'd get the same results."

Rias bristled slightly at the insult while Sona gained a cold calculative expression "For all your bravado, here you stand, surrounded by enemies, injured and broken, about to be defeated by 'baby devils' and a human boy. What does that say about you?"

Even with his wounded, damaged form, he strode forward _in the air_ and raised his hands. "It seems you truly do not know who you're dealing with here girl." There was an ominous wind that blew past with that declaration, and standing – quite literally – above everyone present, Kokabiel was not a figure to take lightly.

"I have fought on the battlefields of gods that could extinguish your existence and that of your entire genealogy with but a single wink. I have fought besides and against creatures of the night that would send you into a whimpering, shivering mess and merely gazing upon their faces would drive you to insanity."

Issei's eyes narrowed as magical circles began forming in the air, and he could feel the strain on the Illusionary Dungeon as _something_ was coming that he did not plan for.

"I _am_ a General of the Grigori and a warrior who has fought against _God_ and _the Devil_." There was a surge of power and Issei stared in disbelief as the ground of his Illusionary Dungeon began shaking like it had been hit by an earthquake.

" _I am Koka-fucking-biel and I will_ _ **n**_ _o_ _ **t b**_ _e_ _ **d**_ _e_ _ **f**_ _e_ _ **a**_ _t_ _ **e**_ _d_ _ **b**_ _y_ _ **t**_ _h_ _ **e l**_ _i_ _ **k**_ _e_ _ **s**_ _o_ _ **f y**_ _o_ _ **u!**_ "

 _Ping!_

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **Sense Danger has gone up by 1!**

 **You have challenged Kokabiel to a fight to the death. It was a pleasure knowing you.**

' _Well screw you too game system!'_

Issei swore mentally as the Fallen Angel was radiating massive waves of power, which he channeled into a similar, but yet slightly different form of rune which the Gamer had almost all but forgotten about.

" **Null Void - Maxima.** "

Unlike when Dohnaseek had activated his version in which Issei barely felt any effect, a higher version of the spell cast by a being in much greater power than Dohnaseek had the same effect as though a massive gust of wind had been released or a shockwave from the cumulating effect of a hundred falling giants and been condensed into a can, and opened without restraint. Cars and bloody _tanks_ were sent flying away by the compounded force of the wind, Issei found himself utilizing his Exorcist sword to slice cars and debris that were sent soaring his way in half, almost toppling over from the sheer wind itself. Whatever pieces of glass that existed in the illusionary dungeon instantaneously shattered into pieces, the concrete ground and tarred roads began folding upon themselves as Issei could feel the Illusionary Dungeon _straining_.

 **War Mode!**

 **You have initiated a battle!**

 **Territorial Advantage – Hyoudou Issei**

 **Numerical Advantage – Hyoudou Issei**

 **Psychological Advantage – Kokabiel**

The Gamer's black hair blew back and he had to apply the Tree Walking technique to keep himself firmly rooted to the ground, and even then, he had to stab his exorcist sword into the ground as well to further stabilize himself. Sadly, all his companions were not as lucky and they had been whisked away by the unfolding winds that ripped through like a hurricane.

Kokabiel had completely unleashed _all_ his power at once, and he was not messing around.

 **Extremely Dangerous Entity Detected!**

 **Estimated Destructive Capability – [Country Level] – S-Class**

 **Boss Detected!**

 **Kokabiel** **Lv.** **205**

 **Title: The Warmonger**

 **Race: Fallen Angel**

 **Class: High-Ranked**

 **Alignment: Neutral Evil**

 **HP: 102432/586500**

 **LM: 211875/475000**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Vitality: ?**

 **Dexterity: ?**

 **Intelligence: ?**

 **Wisdom: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **Charisma: ?**

 **Current Status Effects: Sundered x3, Weakened x3, Slowed x3, Enhanced Physical Resistance, Enhanced Magical Resistance, Enhanced Elemental Resistance, Paranormal Intuition, Heavenly Aura**

 **Bio: One of the members of the Grigori, Kokabiel is one of the most powerful fallen angels in the world. He possesses a legion of Cerberus at his command, and is a battle hardened warrior who likes playing with those weaker than he is, but would not hesitate to smite those who he believes to be worth the challenge. He believes strongly in Survival of the Fittest, and for that reason, he has, on more than one occasion advocated for another Holy War to end the fragile truce holding the three Judeo-Christian Factions.**

 **Views: Kokabiel currently wishes to tear you limb from limb.**

' _Even with the Damage from the Final Twilight, he still has over one hundred thousand hit points left?_ ' Issei thought ' _He had over half a million hit points to begin with?'_

Unaware of the Gamer's Predicament, Kokabiel's gaze turned feral as the waves of power washed forth "Take comfort Red Dragon Emperor. At least, you will be remembered for having being slayed at the hands of a Cadre-Class Fallen Angel."

 _Ping!_

 **Zone Settings Changed!**

 **Currently on Holy Grounds!**

 **Effects: Non Fallen-Angel characters within the zone are unable to utilize any teleportation techniques.**

 **Devil/Demon/Vampire characters within the zone receive a -50% penalty to all stats.**

 **Angel and Fallen Angel Characters within the zone receive a +25% boost to all stats.**

' _Well that's great!'_ Issei swore. Everyone had been whisked away by the typhoon of power caused by Kokabiel, so he couldn't ascertain their current states.

"You will regret refusing me Hyoudou." Kokabiel said "Behold, the ultimate feature of the **Null Void**!"

 _Cold._

 _Cold._

 _Cold._

The noise had suddenly died out. Silence was the universe. He could hear the lips of Kokabiel moving, but sound would not come forth. Issei's chest was an icicle. It was frigid as the powdery diamond snow on the peaks of mountains, the frosty bland thin air that lay at the borders between the earth and vast emptiness of space.

It was only a hunch, but he glanced up, and he could have sworn, for a fraction of a second, that he saw a being dressed in black. And he knew that something was seriously wrong.

After all, there was only one being in existence that could give him that _ohmygodsocold!_ feeling that utterly turned his bones to glaciers and his blood to cream.

As the stray whim that enters the minds of men and leaves without regard, the feeling faded into extinction almost as quickly as it had come into existence.

He turned his gaze unto the vivid glowing golden runes that had appeared beside the fallen angel, and from within he found the source of his extreme discomfort. A being emerged, tall, thin and slightly lanky, dressed in that abominable suit that gave Issei shivers and retreated his memory back to the night that he had discovered the existence of the insane supernatural world.

At first, he doubted his own eyes, but upon seeing that obscene hat that followed the fool wherever he went, Issei knew that there was no doubting it.

"He's dead. _I know he's dead._ "

"And did you believe yourself the only being to possess the power to cheat death?" Kokabiel snorted "This is the ultimate feature of the null void rune – once you have been saved by its power, even once, it can generate an exact replica of the one who used it." Kokabiel said, malicious grin spreading a dangerous cross between the Cheshire Cat and Jack the Ripper.

"Well, not _exact_ , though this version of him has the same memories and experiences and combat experience, it has a higher magical affinity."

Issei simply stared at the being, and then, he shook his head, forcing himself to maintain a perfect Poker Face, but finding himself unable to as he began smirking, and slowly, the smirk turned into a long rambunctious laughter.

"Have you given yourself into such despair that you would laugh at the face of death?"

The Gamer stopped laughing and shook his head.

"I'm not laughing because I'm scared. I'm laughing because you just made signed your own death warrant Kokabiel." The Gamer said. "That isn't an _exact_ replica. That's the _same_ person."

 **Dohnaseek** **Lv.** **70**

 **Title: The Unturned**

 **Race: Fallen Angel [Undead] – [? ? Summon]**

 **Class: High-Ranked**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 85700/85700**

 **LM: 41850/41850**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Vitality: ?**

 **Dexterity: ?**

 **Intelligence: ?**

 **Wisdom: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **Charisma: ?**

 **Current Status Effects: None**

 **Bio: Currently not available.**

"What?" Kokabiel's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't know where you got that rune from, but do you realize what you just did?" Issei asked "You just brought someone back from the dead. Incomplete might I add. You, for all purposes, just _stole_ from _Death_."

It was a hunch, but if Kokabiel was as smart and as knowledgeable as Issei believed him to be, then he would of course realize that he wasn't referring the stealing from the concept of death, but rather, from actually stealing from _Death_. He had just ripped a soul away from a being said to be more powerful than the biblical God himself.

Issei had revived Tsubasa, but in her case she was never truly dead, and of course he had the being's favor. But Kokabiel?

He was as good as dead, with or without Issei's interference.

"No, no, no, no! That _demon_ duped me!"

As much as Issei would have liked to know more about the demon who was selling runes to the Fallen Angels, he wasn't one to waste an opportunity and had already set his plans into action.

"Shadow Possession complete."

"W-what is the meaning of this?" The Fallen Angel froze in place, finding his body movements mirroring that of the Gamer exactly. Without control over his body, he found himself falling from the air at breakneck speeds.

Bursting out from the debris of the surrounding skyscrapers, Kokabiel found himself helpless as he became being the victim of a collaboration attack from Rias, Sona, Tsubasa and Akeno who charged their respective abilities in their hands.

If only things could go as planned.

 **Danger Detected! Killing Intent Detected! Behind You!**

Had Issei been a fraction of a second slower, had his mind not had the capability to think faster than normal, he would have been a dead man as a sharp object swung over where his head would have been moments earlier.

It didn't make much of a difference in the long run, as the gamer's mind and eyes were able to instantly calculate the fact that he had lined himself up for a follow-up attack from his mysterious assailant, but his body had been far too slow to respond.

 **-209HP!**

He grunted once a foot crashed into his stomach with enough force to send him tumbling head over heels, smashing through one side of a building and sending him crashing out the other side, rolling as his body hit the pavement almost eight whole blocks away from Kokabiel and the devils.

Issei groaned as the pain from the attack vanished, and he finally turned to have a good look at his assailant. The man stood, with one half of his face looking horrendously burned, his clothes were nothing more than thin fabric barely holding his dignity, and in his hands were a perfectly white scythe, complete with three wicked looking blades that would have no doubt cut off Issei's head had they connected.

 **The Priest of Jashin**

 **H~~~###iD N Lv. ?**

Issei winced, realizing that for some weird reason, Hidan's name was horribly written in some weird way, and no matter how he tried, he couldn't Observe the man.

 _Ping!_

 **Anomaly Detected!**

 **Sequence Information Corrupted!**

 **Eliminate the Anomaly in order to Proceed.**

"You know, at first, I thought that fucking crow winged bastard was just pulling my legs in order to make me do his dirty work" Hidan said, his smile widening "I mean, what were the fucking odds that the guy who attacked him just happened to be the descendant of the motherfucker who buried me alive for centuries?"

"But then I saw you with my own two bloody eyes use chakra," The Pagan Priest had a manic expression on his face "I saw you use _that_ fucking technique."

The man brandished his scythe, and it was then that Issei saw the weapon for what it really was. It was made of bones, most likely the bones of the multiple zombies Hidan had killed in his alternate dimension, and for some weird reason, the weapon emitted an aura that was sickeningly dangerous.

The Gamer took a deep breath. This was someone who had fought Naruto and lived to tell the tale, so he could not afford to pull his punches.

"What's the matter? Is someone afraid of a little shadow?" Issei's own shadow began morphing behind him, and Hidan swung his scythe as his eyes seemed to gleam.

"You're much more of a fucking talker than the pineapple-haired prick; that's good." Hidan said his feet already motioned "Your trachea will make a great necklace in honor of Jashin-sama once I rip it from your throat."

There was a common saying, that no matter how fast you move, you can't outrun your shadow.

Issei witnessed that theory ripped asunder.

* * *

 **~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~** ~

 **Rias, Sona, Akeno and Tsubaki vs. Kokabiel**

It was absolutely stunning how quickly the tide of the battle could turn, this was a fact Sona thought she knew well, but even she had been caught off guard by the sudden change in power. Issei had been restraining Kokabiel with some technique, only for him to be whisked away by a surprise attack from what she assumed was a human, who seemed to appear out of thin air.

Kokabiel had regained himself once the Red Dragon Emperor was out of the question, and she found herself suddenly receiving a vicious backhand that sent her crashing to the ground.

The pain had rattled her, and for a brief few seconds, she had felt fear, she realized, that if they lost this battle, _she was going to die_. This wasn't a mock rating game, nor was it a rating game at all, there was no referee, no rules, and no guarantee that injuries and wounds would be superficial.

She quickly squashed the feeling of fear that threatened to overcome her, and she rose to her feet, ignoring the blood dripping from her arm and her torn shirt, she adjusted her glasses and then stared back at Kokabiel, who seemed to be floating in the air without a care in the world.

She had made a decision to fight for her dreams, she had made a choice to fight for what she wanted. She was not going to chicken out now.

She knew that most of the members of her peerage had been knocked out by Kokabiel's release of power, they didn't have the resilience to withstand the typhoon and the crashing debris, but despite that fact, she would still fight, and she would still win.

In this little game of hers, it was win or die; there was no middle ground.

"Sitri heir! Is this the full extent of your abilities? Lucifer's sister and Baraquel's daughter have managed to pique my interest, but is there anything worth noting about you?"

Sona's calm façade chipped.

"Rias! Akeno! Tsubaki! Follow my lead!" Sona said, clasping her hands in prayer as two magical circles emerged behind her, and two spinning, eastern styled dragons of water lunged forward against the Cadre Class Fallen Angel.

Kokabiel scoffed as he charged a spear of light to eliminate it, but instead, widened his eyes as the infamous blackish red hue known as the Power of Destruction charged at him from behind.

"A pincer attack?"

The Fallen Angel sneered as he took into the air, only to curse as a massive bolt of lightning was sent towards his direction. With only three workable wings, there was no way he could maneuver himself out of it in time, and he found himself besieged to a three-prong attack by lightning, the power of destruction, and water.

The water and lighting combo particularly left him stunned, and the third power combined to generate a tremendous detonation of power that generated a dust cloud and shockwave strong enough to whip Akeno's hair backwards.

It took a few seconds for the dust to clear, leaving an Olympic swimming-pool sized crater in the ground that housed the Fallen Angel within, his wounds from the bombing attempt re-opened, as well as there being several fresh new scars and burns visible on his skin.

"The rumors of your strategic ability aren't unfounded," He said, eyes opening in amusement as everyone present could feel the overwhelming effect of his Holy Energy "However, in the face of overwhelming power…"

Kokabiel rose to the air and pointed his left arm at the devils "…Strategy is futile. **Unholy Bombardment**."

There was a _storm_ of Holy Spears. The holy weapons lined up in the sky and shot with the speed and efficiency one could only expect of a machine-gun. They tore through buildings like they were made of tissue, and left imprints in the concrete like footprints on a beach.

Sona cursed under her breath as she and the others tried to cast up a barrier to prevent their deaths.

" _Come on Hyoudou-kun… we're counting on you…_ " If Issei's asinine plan didn't work, they were all going to die, slowly, and painfully.

* * *

 **~~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Koneko, Kiba, Saji and Tsubasa Vs. Dohnaseek**

"Fate works in strange ways, doesn't it girl?" Dohnaseek said with a small, cold smirk which seemed out of place on his pale undead features.

"Yes it does," Tsubasa said with a nod, carrying Issei's exorcist gun which the boy had claimed he modified "It's not every day you get the chance to get payback on someone who killed you."

"It's not every day you get to kill someone twice." Dohnaseek said easily, a lance of light appearing into his hands "We've already seen how this ends, and I for one, do not appreciate watching a scene twice."

Tsubasa grinned "Don't worry, I believe we're about to view an alternate ending."

Dohnaseek's eyes narrowed as he managed to avoid a sneak attack from his back, parrying two swords of the Knight of Gremory with his lance, and keeping them steady against the boy.

"Ah, another foolish pawn of a devil challenges me."

"I'm a knight, not a pawn."

Dohnaseek sneered as his free hand shot forwards and grasped Kiba's face before viciously slamming the blonde's face into his knee.

"As long as you dance to the whim of others, and as long as you are being played, you are nothing but a _pawn_ boy." Dohnaseek said "A pitiful pawn that does as he's told and does not question his role in a game far beyond his comprehension."

"Kiba-sempai!"

The bowler-hat fallen angel leaped back to avoid a ground shattering punch from a smaller white haired girl, the zombie-angel hybrid staring at the destruction caused with slight contempt.

"Another one of you? Are you all stupid or do you simply have a death wish?" The Fallen Angel said "While I was alive, I could kill you all without much trouble, now that I've been resurrected with much more power than I thought possible, your chances of killing me are non-existent."

The man shook his head "For what purpose do you fight? That _boy_ , the Red Dragon Emperor? I do not know what sort of change possessed him, but it is clear that he is using you all to achieve his goals." Dohnaseek sighed and continued "Your Kings who basically enslaved you to do their every bidding. They are who you would throw away your lives for?"

"They didn't enslave us!" It was Kiba who responded "They _saved_ us! They gave us a second chance!"

"And all it cost you was your freedom," Dohnaseek said dryly "Slave mentality has taken a complete hold of you boy, there is no saving you. But you girl–" Dohnaseek turned to Tsubasa "It's clear in your eyes that you don't like the concept of using your second chance to become someone else's puppet. You do not want to live your existence to please another person."

"So what if I don't want to be a member of someone's peerage? What does it matter to you? Don't you hold a deep hatred for devils?"

"Yes, I do, but let's say death has broadened my horizons and I am not above reason." The Fallen Angel said "What I truly hate beyond reason are those individuals that would wait in vain for others to solve their problems for them."

"You hate humans." Tsubasa noted.

"Yes, my hatred for humans runs deeper than my hatred for devils," Dohnaseek said "That said, as I'm certain, none of you here became devils of your own free will."

There was a moment of silence which felt deeper in the hearts of the devils because they all knew that he was right.

"Either you were running towards something or running away from something, but you met an unfortunate circumstance and found yourselves becoming the servant of some spoilt brats who would never understand you."

"What's your point?" Tsubasa said snappily, she wasn't certain if it was psychological warfare the Fallen Angel was utilizing, but she could clearly see that he had taken a huge chunk of morale from Kiba and Koneko, and even Saji wasn't as determined as he'd been earlier.

"My point is simple. Though I'm a fallen angel who was kicked out of heaven simply because I ignored the cries of one pitiful human, I am a free being." Dohnaseek said "I follow Kokabiel out of respect for his power and my own desire to see him accomplish his goals, and not because I _owe_ him my life or because he _owns_ me like I'm property."

Kiba grit his teeth as he spoke "They saved our lives. They put a roof over our heads. They gave us a bed to sleep in and food to eat. We are loyal to them because we are _grateful–_ "

"Tell me, what is the lifespan of gratitude?" Dohnaseek interrupted "In time you will grow to realize that gratitude is a burden boy. It is a constant reminder that someone was once favorable to you, and now, you must show the same favor towards that person or risk ' _offending'_ that person and corrupting your image and be considered an ' _ingrate_ '."

Dohnaseek grunted in disdain.

"Any relationship based on the foundation of ' _gratitude'_ is, at best, fickle and superficial, and at worst, a façade on the pathway to destruction."

Kiba's sword pierced into the ground as his hands shakily rested upon the hilt. His breathing was ragged, his eyes were unfocused, and he kept mumbling and muttering words unto himself, as if he was trying to convince himself of something. Whatever it was, Tsubasa wasn't sure all she knew was that Fallen Angel _was_ utilizing psychological warfare against them.

The bowler-hat being shook his head and summoned another lance of light, he spun it in his arm before resting it on his shoulder "Frankly, anyone who lives their lives for others due to some misguided sense of gratitude..."

Dohnaseek's four thick black crow-like wings flapped into existence "…Is a fool."

In a blur of speed, the Fallen Angel charged at Kiba with a spear hand, the stunned boy being too out of it to react to the attack in time.

"Kiba!"

The attack was blocked by Tsubasa, who was straining after using the Exorcist gun in her hand as a club to deflect Dohnaseek's attack.

"Goddamn it you pretty-boy knight! Do you remember what Issei said before we came here? Do you remember why you're fighting?!"

The Knight of the Gremory froze as the words of the Gamer seem to reverberate in his head.

" _Ultimately, when we face the enemy, I don't matter, those people don't matter, this school won't matter, and this town won't matter." Issei said "The only thing that will matter is you, yourself, your life, your friends, and your loved ones."_

" _So fight for them."_

" _ **Fight for you**_ _."_

"I… remember." Kiba's eyes regained a spark that had previously gone missing, his form radiating with energy as the spark in his eyes seemed to fan into a full on flame by his renewed vigor.

" **Sword Birth!** " the blond Knight stood his ground, ignoring the blood flowing down his face from having it slammed into the Fallen Angel's knee earlier and rushed at the bowler cap clad being with his swords.

The Knight of Gremory knocked the Fallen Angel backwards and began a mad rush of attacks, his hands stabbing back and forth in a repetitive blur of motion as though they had been replaced by giant woodpeckers, and the Fallen Angel found himself impossibly hard pressed to keep his ground and ended up took several slashes to the skin that left him hissing in annoyance.

"I don't know what sort of madness has possessed you to fight so fervently boy," Dohnaseek said "But you are still a thousand years too early to defeat me!"

Kiba was overpowered.

The Fallen Angel's light lance cut through Kiba's demonic swords as though it was made of straw, and proceeded on a pathway intending to dissect the devil in two.

The boy was saved from being dissected in half by a mysterious purple rope of energy, and the Fallen Angel turned to spot a new contestant in their battle. "There's _still_ more of you? You devils are like rodents!"

The brief minute of distraction was all Rias's Rook needed to sneak up behind the crazed Undead Fallen Angel and delivered a shattering punch to the backside of the being.

The unmistakable sound of bones cracking echoed the air as Dohnaseek folded in half like a chair, his leg and arms bending backwards so that they were horizontal to each other, as he launched through the air and slammed into a building with enough force to bring the entire thing down on his head.

"D-did we get him?" Saji asked, his eyes warily glancing at the rubble.

"He's already dead. Breaking his bones and burying him alive aren't going to be enough to keep him down." Tsubasa said, craning her neck slightly. She hadn't done much yet in the fight, and that was because she knew that she couldn't fight the Fallen Angel in close range like the rest of them could.

The exorcist gun she was holding was "supposedly" modified. Issei hadn't explained to her what sort of modifications he had done, or even how to use said modifications, he just handed it to her and said that she'd know what to do with it when the time came.

Considering that she no longer had the benefits granted to her by being a Rook, she was the weakest link in the entire battle, and hopefully, Issei's gun was the only thing that could change that fact.

All three devils felt their hopes plummet when the Fallen Angel rose from the rubble, his pale skin hissing as steam emitted from it, while it regenerated, and they watched as his bones sickeningly snapped back into place, completely devoid of any previous injury.

He turned his gaze to Koneko, his eyes looking livid " _That_ energy… You're no ordinary devil."

With a burst of speed too fast for most to follow, he appeared in front of the girl and delivered a devastating backhand to the side of her face.

Koneko skidded across the floor, her clothes shredding from the effects of friction, but thankfully her skin being too tough to be affected. Her face did however contain the nasty red bruise and her usual blank personality had temporarily morphed into a darker façade.

Kiba was quick to counter, as twelve swords emerged from the ground in a hexagon around the fallen angel, and they charged at his command. Dohnaseek evaded them as his jet black crow wings flapped and took him to the sky.

' _Now!'_

Dohnaseek felt himself go cold as he stared up, Tsubasa was there, flying through the air inconspicuously, her exorcist's gun borrowed from the Gamer trained directly towards his forehead.

"Die. And this time, stay dead."

The trigger was pulled and the echo of a deafening gunshot rang throughout the dimension.

* * *

 **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Issei Vs Hidan**

It wasn't that Issei had been underestimating his opponent to begin with, but not even he could help being shocked when he realized that Hidan was fast enough to dodge his shadows.

The priest lunged forward at speeds that left Issei slightly astounded, the blade extended forward for what would have been a rapid decapitation if the Gamer had not utilized Dodge to lean back at the last minute. The Gamer swore at the air pressure that trailed the attack and quickly followed through with the momentum of his leaning back, performing a handstand backflip which aided him in avoiding another viscous slash that would have split him in two with the long reaching scythe.

 **Boost! You have been Boosted to Level 50!**

' _He's much faster than I thought!'_ Issei noted silently, only for his eyes to widen as Hidan was quicker on the draw, elevating into the air with a powerful leap as he launched out with a butterfly kick with his left leg that was meant to return the Gamer to the ground.

 **-92HP!**

Issei grunted as the kick connected, but grinned as he caught the offending limb in a vicious grapple.

' _Tree Walking_ _! Let's see you get out of this!'_

Utilizing his hold over his opponent, Issei dragged Hidan forward and aimed to deliver a punch with his gauntleted arm straight towards the man's face. The Pagan Priest blocked it with his the flat side of his scythe, but the force still sent him crashing towards the earth.

' _Critical Strike!_ '

The pagan priest dodged Issei's axe kick that would have landed directly on his skull with a quick roll, skidding to his feet as he noted the light crater formed from the impact of the Gamer's feet against the ground, knowing fully well that it would have caved in his skull.

 **Boost Reset!**

It was in that brief moment that Issei realized the one weakness of his Critical Strike. The technique dealt a lot of damage and force, but in exchange, there would be a brief second of delay for him to move after utilizing it, and that brief second was all the Priest needed to charge in with a spinning back heel kick that struck the Gamer's head like as though it was a football.

 **-134 HP!**

 **HP: 505/940**

 **You have gained the status effect: Stunned!**

Issei rolled with the motion of the kick that snapped his head backwards and sent him rolling, and was able to manage himself enough to recover onto his feet, only to drop onto one knee as his vision swam.

"Is this all you can fucking do?" Hidan said with a derisive sneer "I haven't had a fucking fight in centuries and I'm still kicking your ass! You fight like a fucking Genin! Even a fucking vegetable could give me a better challenge!"

Issei's eyes widened in realization.

The only Taijutsu style he had in his arsenal was the Beginner Level Taijutsu, and while he was proficient at it, the fact remained that it was still _Beginner Level_. It was the basics of the basics, and Hidan was supposedly a shinobi who had gone toe to toe with Naruto, the man might even be S-Class. Regardless of how weak or how insane he was right now, there was no way he'd be beaten by what was essentially the most basic Taijutsu style known to all shinobi.

Issei had been utilizing the taijutsu against opponents who didn't specialize in the martial arts, as such, it had presented the illusion to him that he was extremely proficient at hand to hand. In truth, he'd be decimated against a master.

It was at the same time that the Gamer realized there was a glaring weakness to his own analytic prowess. He could think and analyze the moves of his opponent four times faster than an average human, but it made no difference if he couldn't move his body to react to those snap decisions in time.

There was a pause in which both combatants sized the other up.

' _So he's better at Taijutsu. Well then, let's see how well he deals with this_!' With a snap of his fingers, Issei was equipped with his exorcist sword in one hand, and knife held in reverse grip in the other.

 **Boost! You have been Boosted to Level 50!**

 **Ambidextrous Dual-Wielding!**

 **You have negated the Stunned Status Effect!**

Issei exploded into action, the ground on which his feet stood cracking from the sudden explosive force of kinetic energy provided by the speed boost of the Ambidextrous dual-wielding perk.

"Now we're talking!" Hidan did not back down, instead, the insane shinobi grinned as he charged forward and they launched at each other for a full on close combat match.

Steel met bone in a clash that sent shockwaves of air, pressure and killing intent soaring away from the combatants. Issei got faster with each swing, his exorcist sword clashed against Hidan's scythe, creating sparks that glowed as ephemeral fireflies that witnessed the battle between warriors. The Gamer's hands had turned to mere blurs, and Hidan mimicked the action by constantly spinning and wielding his staff with such efficiency, it resembled a giant fan more than it did a straight object.

Issei's eyes trailed the object with ever increasing accuracy, never letting it leave his vision as his eyes predicted the paths it would take and his mind rapidly created counters for each possible path in an attempt to keep up with the more experienced shinobi.

 _Ping!_

 **Due to a selected perk [Perfect Vision], you gain a true understanding of how a weapon works just by seeing it in action!**

 **You have obtained the skill,** **Scythe Mastery** **Lv. 3!**

 **Grants -50% Effectiveness of Enemy Scythes**

 **Grants -25% Damage Taken from Scythes**

 **Grants +10% Attack Speed when wielding Scythes**

There was an immediate noticeable difference. Issei's Accelarated Thought Process worked in tandem with Perfect Vision in order for the teen to begin _predicting_ Hidan's moves before the silver haired shinobi could make them.

 **Boost! You have been Boosted to Level 100!**

 **Boosted Gear's Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Boosted Gear's Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Boosted Gear's Level has gone up by 1!**

 **You've unlocked a new Feature of the Boosted Gear!**

From an outsider's perspective, the two were equally matched, but in reality, Issei was fully on the offensive as his strikes kept the Shinobi from retaliating, and little by little, the Pagan Priest lost ground.

The Gamer charged with an overhead strike with his sword in his left hand, causing Hidan to parry it aside with his scythe, and only reflex and instinct saved the being from Issei's shorter knife which nearly gouged out the priest's eye.

Hidan leaped back in response and swore, while Issei took a long, deep breath as he gazed at the shinobi.

 _BLAM!_

The echo of a gunshot rang out throughout the deserted dimension and Issei let a small smile morph onto his face.

"That's the signal." He said under his breath, and watched as Hidan gazed at him warily.

"Oi, what the fuck is so funny shithead?"

"This battle is about to come to an end, and yet, I don't even know why you're so pissed at me."

Hidan spat and brought up his scythe "You're the descendant of Shikamaru-cocksucking-Nara. He's the asshole who buried me alive for millennia, and even though the joke's on him since he's off with the shinigami and I'm still kicking, I going to kill you slowly to send my fucking regards."

Issei shook his head. He was certain that Naruto had never mentioned him being the descendant of a shinobi or having shinobi blood in his veins, so either this man was making some rather crazy assumptions or there was something else at play.

"What makes you think I'm the descendant of this Shikamaru person?"

The Pagan Priest seemed to get angered at the question "Do you take me for some moron who'll empty his motherfucking wallet for a bitch who flashes her titties just once in my direction? Tell me brat! Do I look that gullible to you?" Hidan said with a derisive sneer "You have the same shitty black hair, you use the same shitty chakra, and you manipulate the same shitty shadows. Only the deer-fucking Naras had the ability to bend shadows to their will."

"And it never occurred to you that people not from the Nara Clan might have gained this ability in the what, five-thousand plus years you've been buried alive?" Issei asked, his eyes almost twitching in annoyance.

"Then I'll kill every single cocksucker whose shadow so much as moves in the fucking opposite direction!" Hidan said, angrily swiping at the air as his breath became ragged "I waited for _millennia_ for my fucking revenge! Millennia! Do you fucking know what it's like to be buried alive in some shithole for _thousands_ of years? Do _you_? You lose all sense of time, and you just fucking stare at dirt, and mud and worms over and over and over! Then one day, you fucking decide that you can't take it anymore, and you begin _talking_ to the bloody, fucking worms!"

Issei said nothing, instead, he watched the insane man continue his rant while he began discretely tapping his fingers.

"And you know what's funny? Even the shitty worms end up dying before I did! Just like every motherfucker I'll ever know!" Hidan said with a sick sardonic laugh "The rest of the fucking Akatsuki are all pushing up daisies six feet under, and all the other circle-jerking shit-stain shinobi seem to be dead, so the only people left for me to fucking take out all my anger on, are you, and Uzumaki-fucking-Naruto!"

"As much as I'd like to sympathize," Issei said dryly "We both know you're a psychotic mass murderer who kills people in the name of some bullshit god. You _deserve_ every second of the torture you've endured."

There was a _beat_.

" _You…_ " Hidan's voice dropped to a dangerous level of cold.

 _Ping!_

 **By utilizing the right words in the right situations in order to rile up or off balance your opponent and either send them into a bawling mess or a fit of rage, you have unlocked a new social skill!**

 **Taunt** **Lv. 1!**

 **Grants a 45% Chance to inflict the [Berserk] Status Effect on enemies; the [Berserk] status effect rapidly raises the opponent's attack and speed at the cost of giving them a one-track mind and sharply reducing their defenses which leaves them susceptible to further manipulation and/or falling easy prey to traps.**

 **Grants a 10% Chance to inflict the [Shaken] Status Effect on enemies; which interferes with the opponent's will to fight, reducing their attack stats or in social scenarios, makes the target weaker to further mental attacks.**

 **If the target is continually [Shaken],** **Taunt** **grants a 5% chance to inflict the status effect [Cowed] which utterly removes the target's will to fight and makes the target utterly submissive and highly more susceptible to further mental attacks.**

Issei didn't even need to be able to observe Hidan to know that the Priest in question was utterly enraged and had fallen prey to the [Berserk] status effect.

" _Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!_ " The Pagan Priest exploded forward at speeds that modified street-racing cars would fail to achieve in a single burst, and raised his scythe high up as he rushed forward with the intent to cleave the Gamer in half.

The Red Dragon Emperor simply smiled as he watched the berserk silver-haired man charge toward him without a single thought.

' _I love it when things go exactly as planned.'_

The Gamer rose his hands and uttered two simple words.

"Shade Screen."

Hidan's world went black.

* * *

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Rias, Sona, Akeno and Tsubaki vs. Kokabiel**

Sona let out a wary sigh as she glanced at her state of dress. Her school uniform had been torn up and her skirt had been shredded to the point that it barely covered her decency. They had survived Kokabiel by using Rias' power of Destruction to repetitively build and destroy small caves underneath the concrete, with Sona making sure to position themselves in places that the Fallen Angel would not be able to find easily.

Her Queen was in a similar state of disarray, and it was obvious that Tsubaki had lost a lot of energy, having never actually having to fight against such a frustrating and overwhelming opponent before.

Akeno had been knocked out cold, after attacking in blind rage once Kokabiel had suggested that he wouldn't be opposed to raping the daughter of Baraquiel, just so he could see the man's reaction, and then mentioning that he regretted never having the chance to have sex with Akeno's mother.

Her friend, as expected was not handling their predicament well.

Rias practically grasped her by the collar, the girl's eyes no longer collected, instead, they flickered like the diminishing light bulb on a deserted street, her fingers shuddered badly even as she held Sona by the collar.

"Is this _supposed_ to be part of your plan?" Rias asked, no hidden agenda or motive behind her voice. "Were we _supposed_ to be running and hiding for our lives against Kokabiel while the members of our peerage fight a losing battle?"

"Yes, it is."

"Ah, _of course_ it is. How silly of me. Perhaps I have been slapped around too many times today by a Cadre Class Fallen Angel that I failed to notice how everything is still _according_ to the plan."

"Sarcasm has never been your strong suit Rias."

"You've _seen_ Kokabiel's power. It doesn't matter what form of convoluted plan you cooked up against him – there are things, things that simple _planning_ can't overcome! We've tried _everything_ and we've barely fazed him!"

She wasn't exaggerating either. They had tried sneak attacks, pincer attacks, joint attacks, combination attacks; they had tried flanking him, stunning him, shocking him, ambushing him, and a myriad of other tactics in their brief encounter. Yet, the Fallen Angel had shrugged them all off like they were mere insects before his might.

He had tried summoning his Cerberus minions from hell, but thankfully, the same Null Void rune which gave him his boost prevented him from doing so, and as such, Sona didn't have to worry about killing giant demonic, fire-breathing three-headed dogs.

"He's not exactly wrong." Sona said quietly.

"Who?"

"Kokabiel. He wasn't wrong when he said that conflict is what makes us grow." The devil removed her cracked glasses from her eyes and stared at it gently.

"Before today, we've always had someone to protect us; either Sirzechs-sama or Serafall-nee-sama, or their peerages or our parents. We were always sheltered; we never had to fight for ourselves." Sona sighed as she tried to sit up, wincing at the feeling of a bruised rib, she made a mental note to get someone who had healing abilities in her peerage.

"You make it sound… _wrong_." Rias said "There's nothing wrong with having family and loved ones who want to protect you."

"Customarily, I would say that there is nothing improper about that," Sona said "But they pandered on us, coddled us and we had no idea as to how grim things really were. We were so accustomed to them constantly protecting us, that not once did we realize that they were tired of being our babysitters. To them we were naïve and weak, and we were a _burden_."

"That's not true-"

"Is it?" Sona's broken glasses gleamed "Why do you think our parents are still so eager to sign us off on arranged marriages despite our vehement refusals?"

Rias' eyes seemed to widen for a brief second, and a thought came to her that Sona had predicted and sharply shut down.

"It's not because were born females," Sona said "My parents never once entertained the idea of finding my _sister_ a suitor. Even before she became the Leviathan, not once did they ever think she needed to be married off. They held no such respect for my wishes."

Rias clenched her fists as she curled her body so that her arms were wrapped around her legs and her face was resting on her knees. "They want me to marry Riser… even though they know what he's like and what he does to the women in his peerage, because they think I'm… _weak?_ "

It made sense; cold, calculating, and something completely worthy of their reputation as devils. Under the guise of fostering new family ties and creating an alliance, they would have a way to remove her from the line of succession in the Gremory clan. She was supposed to be the Gremory Clan heir, but there was no doubting that if she married Riser, and entered into the Phenex Clan, she would give up that position to Milicas. Her nephew was a better candidate for becoming the leader of the Gremory Clan as he was the son of the Lucifer and Grayfia Lucifuge – one of the former candidates for Leviathan. There was no doubt that he'd grow to become a powerful ruler of the Gremory Clan.

Rias's teeth clenched and she didn't even know when she had dug her nails into her palm hard enough to draw blood. It was because she was _kind, caring_ , _affectionate_ , that she had become so _gullible_. She didn't want to believe it, there was a part of her that instinctively rejected the idea that her own family members saw her in such ways, but the truth was plain to see.

They were _devils_. Manipulation and power plays were their bread and butter, and ultimately, she was just another piece on the board.

Maybe if she became _harsher_ , _crueler_ , more _manipulative_ , then they'd all learn their lessons. They would think twice before trying to manipulate her. Maybe… if she were to _truly_ embrace her inner devil… they'd learn to _fear_ her.

 _Maybe…_

Rias froze as she felt herself drawn from the dark thoughts by a soft hand placed on her chest, right above her heart, and the red haired girl couldn't help the dusting of pink that appeared on her cheeks from witnessing her usually emotionless rival do something so out of character.

"S-sona?"

Sona placed her hand on the Gremory's chest, ignoring at the torn fabric of uniform and the black brassiere that lay underneath, her mind wandered to someone else, the first ever male who had touched her there, but without sexual intent.

"Less than twenty-four hours ago, I had an inflated opinion of my own strength and abilities. I was confident that there was no one I couldn't _outsmart_. No one I couldn't _outthink_." She shook her head at the strangeness of it all. "Then _Hyoudou Issei_ of all people broke into my house and shattered that notion within _minutes_. He could _outsmart_ me, he could _outthink_ me, and if he wanted to, he could have raped me, molested me or killed me and there would not have been a thing I could do to stop him."

"Do you know what he did instead?" Sona asked "He _offered_ to make my dreams come true. He never stopped to ask what they were, and he didn't care. All he knew is that he would make it happen, somehow, someway, he would do it. And I believed him"

"I _still_ believe him," she corrected herself "When I finally told him what my dream was, he didn't laugh at me like I expected. No, all he said was 'That's all there is to it? Well then, this'll be easier than I thought.' And then he went straight to working on it like it was the easiest task in the world."

"He believes in me. He is risking his life for my dreams even though he does not _have_ to," Sona said "And I believe in _you_ Rias. Rivals we may be, but if you change your way of doing things, if you let them get to you… then you will lose. You will lose your battle, you will lose your way, and there is no coming back from either."

Rias took in a deep breath, and she managed to smile at her friend once more. "Thank you, Sona."

Rias let out a long held sigh and rested her chin on her palm before mumbling to herself "…And to think I had thought Hyoudou was just a simple minded pervert."

"You're still bitter over the fact that he tricked you into signing that contract aren't you?"

"I _was_." Rias said, then after a moment's pause, she added "But now, _if_ I see him again, I'll need to thank him."

"Thank him?"

"After facing Kokabiel and watching him throw hordes of Light Spears at us, fighting Riser doesn't sound half as bad anymore."

Sona let a small smile grace her features. Somehow, Hyoudou had the potential to bring out the best in people, even if he didn't realize it himself.

 _BLAM!_

The echo of a gunshot rang overhead, and Sona instantly sprung up to her feet.

"That's the signal."

"Signal? What signal?"

Sona detached her glasses from her eyes and quietly cleaned them against whatever remained of her uniform. Steadily, she put them back on her eyes and channeled her power through her body.

"Time to end this," she said, her eyes catching a glimpse of a shadow moving in front of her.

"Once and for all.

* * *

 **A/N: "Our Counter-attack begins here!"**

 **Cough. Cough. A-hem. Anyway, the devils all come face to face with their own inner conflict! Ah conflict, my old friend. Regardless, this was my longest ever chapter focusing on a battle between differing views and opinions more than just a pure battle of brute strength. I mean really, what makes a fight interesting isn't always the fight itself, but the motives behind it.**

 **Unless of course you're One Punch Man, then you're watching it for the fights alone.**

 **The next chapter will draw this arc to a final close, and then we'll see whether or not your favorite characters live or not... because _yes_ I will eventually kill of characters _for good_. But don't worry, I'm not going to go all Game of Thrones on you. So, next chapter, you get to discover what Issei's plan is, though the more savvy of you have already figured it out, which is a shame really, but I guess that just means I'll have to work harder to outsmart my readers.**

 **R &R!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_

 _ **P.S. Did I accidentally make Kokabiel into a badass? Just wondering...**_


	17. Anomaly I: Stepping Up The Game

**A/N: So here it is. The thrilling conclusion to the second arc. This chapter is dedicated to all my fans and reviewers, who have helped make this story go from nothing to having over 1000+ reviews and almost 2000+ followers and favorites in less than a year. This is Silent Songbird saying, without you guys, this fic would be nothing.**

 **So standing at approximately 15,000+ words, this dedicated chapter is the longest thing/chapter I have ever written. Ever.**

 **Do enjoy.**

* * *

 **~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~`**

 **Chapter 16:**

 **Anomaly I: Stepping Up The Game**

* * *

 **Illusionary Dungeon – Zombies**

Patience had never been Kalawarner's strong suit.

The voluptuous form of the Fallen Angel strutted around aimlessly, mindless of the dust and dirt which pervaded her shoes, she continued her pace, with her two hands locked behind her back, one bent to grasp the other.

She was the type of person who went with the flow, who thought on her feet, and she did not have the time or effort to deal with any dilatory cunctator. She was swift in delivering her actions, and even swifter in the battlefield in which she attacked first and asked questions later.

She spun around on hearing a soft growl, her tongue clicking in annoyance as a spear of holy energy in the form of a dark colored light manifested in her left hand. She stomped the ground with her left foot, properly balancing herself as a dead carcass of rotting flesh lunged at her in a mindless dash. She dodged the creature's initial attempt to grasp her head, and in one swift motion, she rotated her body like a pole dancer and thrust the spear into the head of the undead spawn.

She flicked away the gray matter from the spear, and dismissed it, and then continued her pacing as though nothing had happened.

Perhaps her lack of patience was her hubris, as she had decided that it was ultimately pointless to continue the charade of a truce that held the factions together, and decided to enlist under the Fallen Angel who she believed could put an end to it all. Along the way, she had found herself completely lost and swayed by the sheer power that said Fallen Angel had possessed, and he had attained her loyalty and admiration.

If she hadn't, this would have been a lot easier.

Now, thanks to _that_ man, she had to aid in a conspiracy to kill the being who had attained said honor, lest she herself end up possibly suffering a fate worse than death. She had wanted to warn her lord of the letter, the way he had dismissed it so casually had bothered her, but it had been too late. The flash of Twilight energy had spread, and she found herself experiencing a strange sense of hypnagogic fatigue, and the next thing she knew, she was hidden inside one of the empty buildings in the post-apocalyptic world, awaiting the next stage of the asinine plan to assassinate her commander.

Two more growls disrupted her thoughts, and she smelt them before she could see them, as two more undead creatures attempted to flank her on both sides. She formed a lance of light this time around, in both hands, and she thrust them forward and backwards, vaporizing the heads of the creatures without much hassle.

Once more, she began to pace.

Even as she had felt the raw release of power that Kokabiel had unleashed, and even as she wished within her heart that the human fall and die, she still had no choice but to wait.

It was too late to go out and help Kokabiel, even if she wanted to, claiming that she had survived the blast on her own. The ten-winged fallen angel was leagues above her, and even he had barely made it out in one piece; it was completely impossible for her to have survived without a scratch unless something else was afoot.

She had betrayed him. Going back to him meant death, of this there was no doubt.

So instead, she was stuck in the service of a teenager with questionable sanity and intellect, unknown levels of power, and a fondness for the feminine form.

So while he held her soul in his hands, fighting, all she could do was wait. And wait. And wait.

Patience was not Kalawarner's strong suit.

"You know, pacing around like that isn't going to help Kal-chan." The smaller fallen angel with blonde hair was sprawled out easily on the floor, having meticulously removed the dust and sand to ensure that her gothic dress wasn't ruined.

"I am aware of that," she said snappily "I just can not idly toy with my thumbs and do _nothing_ while heaven-knows-what is going on over at the battlefield!"

"We're not doing nothing," Mittelt said "We're _waiting_. There's a difference."

"And you're satisfied with mere _waiting?_ " Kalawarner said with a scowl, crossing her arms as she glared at her insouciant partner "With following that- that _thing_ 's orders? With losing the ownership of your soul?"

"I don't mind… Issei-kun seems _very_ fun to play with," Mittelt said with a wet smack of her lips, "Those gorgeous twilight eyes, that brilliant mess of black hair, and don't tell me you couldn't see how ripped he was underneath all that black clothing."

"That… _monster,_ is not one of your _toys_ Mittelt. He will kill you before he indulges any of your ludicrous fetishes!"

"Maybe if I try hard enough, he'll get angry and _punish_ me. He'll tie me up with his shadow and tell me how I've been such a _naughty_ girl… and then he'll whip out something _strong_ and _firm_ to teach me a lesson…"

"Are you… _touching yourself_?" Kalawarner said in disbelief, noting how the petite angel had started making slightly lewd noises and the position of her hand had gone underneath her dress. The smaller angel had begun rubbing her thighs in a sensory manner and Kalawarner fought hard against the heat that was slowly creeping into her face.

"I wouldn't be so horny right now if you had agreed to share some _bonding_ time. But you have to be _such_ a prude. It's not like Raphael is going to smite us down like he did to those humans in Gomorrah…" Mittelt gave a coy smirk to the larger woman "Come on Kal-chan~ you've got such a smoking body, why don't you use it?"

"You. Are. Impossible." Kalawarner shook her head in disgust "Do you even understand the concept of _shame_? We're in a decrepit building in a pocket dimension that houses _zombies_ , caught in a war between the Red Dragon Emperor and a Cadre class fallen angel and you decide now is the time to… _please yourself?_ "

"You make it sound like it's a _bad_ thing. Who else in history can proudly say they masturbated in a pocket dimension surrounded by zombies while the Red Dragon Emperor and Kokabiel fought in the background?"

"Such wanton display of decadence makes me wonder how you were ever an angel in the first place."

"Well _sor-ry_ if not all of us get weak knees whenever we look at Kokabiel".

" _What_?"

"Kal-chan, Kal-chan… Did you really think I didn't see you rubbing your thighs and panting hard when you felt him unleash his energy?" Mittelt said with a snort "You want it so bad that just feeling his holy aura almost made you cream yourself."

"B-Blasphemy! I would never harbor such lewd thoughts for Kokabiel-sama!"

"You say you're loyal to him, but all you really want more than anything is to jump his -"

"Continue that sentence and I will see to it that your tongue never utters another word!"

 _BLAM!_

Both Fallen Angels instantly spun to where they had heard the echo of the gunshot, their petty disputes coming to a silent unanimous end as their eyes glanced at each other in understanding.

It was time.

* * *

 **~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~**

 **Issei VS Hidan**

" _He looks pathetic."_ Ddraig said.

"Anyone would look pathetic if they were trying to fight in a blind rage."

Issei almost wanted to pity the Pagan Priest as he swung his scythe everywhere and anywhere in his attempt to try and hit the gamer, who had taken up higher ground and gazed down at the rambling, frothing man.

 _Almost_.

Afflicting him with the Blind status effect immediately after making him Berserk had utterly turned him into nothing but a raging beast who swore at anything and everything while swinging his scythe in the air in some misguided hope to hit his opponent.

With Issei's absurd stealth skills, plus with him being far away and on higher ground, there was no way Hidan would be able to actually smell or hear him – that is, assuming he wasn't Berserk and actually _thought_ about trying to use his other senses to locate the Gamer. While he had been in that sorry state, Issei had ensured to cast over a hundred of his Shadow Anchor techniques on the man, which was primed to be activated whenever he desired, and as such would incapacitate the shinobi even further.

Combining different negative Status Effects on his opponent was quickly becoming Issei's best way to take them out. He could have cast Sleep on Hidan at this point, and the man would fall under it easily, but some weird, twisted part of him enjoyed watching the Pagan Priest froth at the mouth as he kept swinging his scythe in the air.

Not to mention, his Scythe Mastery had upgraded to Level 15 just from watching how Hidan swung it; the Pagan Priest was surprisingly still dexterously proficient with the weapon despite being in a blind rage.

Issei made a mental note to find or create a skill which could allow him to mind control his opponents, but there was always that nagging at the back of his mind that told him that there was always the possibility of him using it for less than stellar purposes.

He wasn't going to deceive himself and paint himself as some form of saint, because he couldn't count how many times he had imagined having the power to hypnotize girls, so he could fondle their breasts and do things that he knew they would never agree to otherwise.

He was certain that the second he turned that imagination to reality, he'd be heading straight down into the Chaotic Evil alignment.

Regardless, it was time to put aside his little charade of a battle to an end.

" _You've unlocked the_ _Transfer_ _ability of the Boosted Gear haven't you?"_

"I did my research," Issei said with a small, indiscernible nod "The Two Heavenly Dragons; the Welsh Dragon and the English Dragon. One has the ability to boost its wielders power level, and then transfer that power to others, while the other halves the power of its enemies and transfers it to the user."

" _So are you finally going to stop playing around and go all out? All this planning and scheming is starting to go over my head."_

"What makes you think I've been playing around?"

" _You knew where this Hidan_ _fellow had been hiding the entire battle._ _It's not like you could miss the giant red x on your mini-map. I don't get why you had to pretend like you were surprised when he attacked you."_

"…I almost forgot you could also see my Gamer features." Issei said, massaging his eyebrows in self-chastisement. "Hidan is more of a tool than he is an opponent, especially with his special jutsu that Naruto told me about."

" _Wait… don't tell me you plan on –"_

The Gamer's attention was drawn to the sound of flapping wings, and he noted as Kalawarner had appeared beside him, her face still twisted into one of animosity. He couldn't entirely blame her, he would also feel quite bitter if he had been bested in battle, blackmailed and then had his soul bind to the whim of another. Of course he had no intention of making her commit any sexual or corrupt deeds against her own free will, but he highly doubted she had such a high opinion of him.

"Do you have what I asked for?"

"Surely you did not think I failed your task and came here anyway?"

Issei's left eye twitched. Kalawarner had a rather round-about way of being sarcastic. Regardless, the Fallen Angel reached into her dress, and brought out a large test tube clearly filled to the brim with thick red blood.

"May I ask what it is that you intend to do with Kokabiel-sama's blood?" she said hesitantly as the Gamer collected the test tube and looked it over with a small smile.

"Yes you may."

Kalawarner grinded her teeth upon Issei's silence and continued "What do you intend to do with Kokabiel-sama's blood?"

"Well that's…" Issei made her lean close as though he was about to whisper something sensitive "… a _secret!_ "

The Gamer could tell that it took all of the Fallen Angel's willpower not to instantly strangle him at that point, and it brought a slightly amused smile to his lips.

Still, the Gamer couldn't just stand the idea of someone having such a passionate hatred for him.

 _Of course, they will hate what they do not understand. You are not like her, like those angels, they are foolish, ignorant and cynical. You are above them, all it would take, would be a tiny shadow thread, small, thin, but sharp… and you could get rid of her…_

' _I'm not listening to you. Not listening.'_ Issei repeated the mantra in his head in an attempt to get rid of the whisperings of Darkness in his ear.

So instead, he refocused on Kalawarner.

"You really hate me don't you?"

"The only reason I have not attempted to strangle you is because I know that such an exercise would end in futility, and risk drawing your ire."

"Yeesh... it's that bad huh?" Issei said, while slowly rubbing the back of his neck "Well considering everything, I guess I kind of deserve it."

"Yes, you sorely do."

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Kalawarner blinked, she could've sworn she just heard an apology.

"I'm sorry, about all this," Issei said, gesturing around.

"And what is the meaning of this sudden change of heart?"

"You loved Kokabiel. Didn't you?"

Kalawarner did the perfect impression of the ghastly silhouette of a frozen mime.

"The way you referred to him, adored him, it was more than hero worship. You loved him, but it wasn't to be. You would never tell him about such feelings, and even if you did, you always knew that he would never feel the same." Issei said with a sigh "And then I come in, and make you betray him. Have a ploy in killing him, killing the person you love, but would never tell, and would never love you back."

"Shut. Up."

"I know apologizing doesn't make a difference, but I understand deeply doing all this must hurt you. So, I'm sorry."

She glanced at him, eyes tinged and fiery "You understand nothing Hyoudou Issei."

Her arms wrapped protectively around her body, fists clenching silently as she diverted her gaze. "You understand nothing."

There was an odd, awkward silence which was only interrupted by Hidan's mad curses and ramblings, and Issei let out another long sigh, feeling twice his age, as he reverted back to business.

"How's the loli? Did she get what she needed? I know there couldn't have been much time for you to grab stuff before the bomb went off."

" _Mittelt,_ was able to successfully accomplish her mission," Kalawarner said in a forced tone "And… she found something else among Kokabiel-sama's files."

"Oh? What was it?"

"Information… on Dohnaseek."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Koneko, Kiba, Saji and Tsubasa vs. Dohnaseek**

Beauty lay in the most unexpected places, Tsubasa idly noted. To some, beauty lay in the form of a woman, in observing her long legs and creamy fair skin, her voluptuous thighs and ever blessed round pillars of flesh that adorned her chest. To others, beauty lay in nature, The sweet, saccharine, petrichor that could be obtained after the freshest of rains falls upon the earths soils, or perhaps, the sound of the birds chirping along happily, or witnessing the most magnificent of waterfalls and terrain that would send the blood pumping through your brain as you registered the magnificence of all that lay before you. And again for some, beauty lay in watching the sparks of a flame light up, and watching, as that little bundle of a gaseous entity would grow to become a magnanimous conflagration capable of utterly ravishing, eating and devouring anything in its way. They would enjoy the sight of fire, the feel of the scorching heat, the smell of smoke and ashes, and they would relish in all its delight.

And of course, to others, true beauty lay in explosions.

As a blue haired devil stared in utmost awe once the sub-sonic projectile had emerged from her gun to pierce the bowler hat Fallen Angel's forehead in a clean direct hit, _consecutively,_ the path the bullet travelled was followed by a beam of hot, twilight energy.

Said energy expanded out in an arc that disintegrated the Fallen Angel from head to toe and struck into the earth to generate a colossal detonation the size of a football stadium, and leaving a massive mushroom cloud in place of the blast.

"That was… awesome!" Tsubasa stared at the steaming gun in her hand as though it were a long lost lover. Only to wince as the gun over-heated and she let go of it and watched it melt into a useless mass of molten steel.

Of course, the Devil in question wasn't _exactly_ certain as to what sort of modifications Hyoudou Issei had added to the simple, Browning High-Power 9x19mm. Pistol that was infamously repurposed to be utilized as an exorcist gun, but not once did she ever think that the boy would have turned the gun into a one-hit death beam.

Once she saw the remains of the Fallen Angel seem to move on their own and begin re-assembling, as they flew like old newspapers in the wind and gently came together to reform the snarling visage of Dohnaseek, she almost scowled but nonetheless couldn't help the satisfied feeling on noticing how much weaker he appeared to be.

"Well that must have been a _mind-blowing_ experience."

Koneko turned to give her a blank stare, Kiba held an awkward smile, and Saji simply sweatdropped at the pun.

Dohnaseek however, was not amused.

"Simply because you have gained a weapon of notoriety you think yourself capable of matching _me_ , girl?" Dohnaseek said "I am _undead_! It doesn't matter if you tear me limb from limb or disintegrate me from head to toe! So long as the link keeping me in this world remains, I am undefeatable!"

The devils glanced at each other and then back to the floating Fallen Angel-zombie. His eyes had gone dark red and his breathing had become ragged and forced, his entire body was bulging with veins and it looked as though he was frothing at the mouth.

Dohnaseek took up to the air with his wings, and raised his arms as a vast sphere of jagged shaped pillar of light began forming over him "Satan is dead! God is dead! The throne of heaven is ripe for the taking! The Heavens will face war, and I will be the one to ensure that Kokabiel-sama seats on the throne! Nothing can stop him! Nothing! You'll all die here and now and your deaths will be the ladders that will ascend Kokabiel-sama to greater heights! You will bow before the might of a new God!"

Tsubasa sighed.

In place, Dohnaseek noted something else had changed. Koneko shook her head at him, her lips forming the word "Baka", Kiba had sheathed his swords, and even the last one, Saji, had simply released his Sacred Gear, and they all turned their backs on him and began walking away.

"W-what? I just told you that God is dead! Where are you going? What are you doing girl? Are you stupid enough to turn your backs on me? _Me?_ "

"It's because we're tired of listening to your bullshit you self-absorbed prick." Tsubasa said in annoyance "We've all known that God is dead for a while now, and listening to you blabber on about your impossible dreams is just irritating."

" _What?_ "

Tsubasa silently massaged her temples as the words came out strained "We captured Freed Selzen. Did you think we wouldn't pump him for information?"

Realization dawned on the Fallen Angel as he began shaking in anger. "No! No! Even if he told you all about God being dead, Selzen shouldn't have known about the final feature of the Null Void Rune – none of you should have been expecting me here!"

There was a sound of giggling, and everyone turned their eyes to find a new contender on the battleground. The blonde fallen angel winked at Dohnaseek "Free-chan may have not known, but it was easy for little ol' me to find out."

"YOU!" Dohnaseek turned, his eyes burning with rage upon sighting a familiar gothic-lolita clad Fallen Angel. "You traitorous wench! You dare betray Kokabiel-sama? Your head will hang from his walls!"

The zombie-fallen angel attempted a mad charge at the smaller being, only to find himself suspended in the air, and he realized, with shocking terror, that he couldn't move.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"You still don't get it do you?" Tsubasa said "The outcome of our fight was decided before it even began. Our jobs were simply to keep away any unwanted cannon fodder away from Issei, Sona and Kokabiel."

"C-cannon fodder?!" Dohnaseek roared at the concept, but at the same time, he noticed that he _couldn't_ move. It was like there was an invisible force suspending him in the air against all odds.

"Don-chan, Don-chan. You've always been short-sighted, you never seem to be able to see beyond the current task which lay ahead… that's why you became a Fallen Angel." Mittelt said with a soft sigh.

"Nonsense! I became a Fallen Angel because of a pitiful human who couldn't even help herself-"

"You were kicked out of heaven because you couldn't follow orders!" Mittelt said, her normally playful persona filled with irritation "I found out the truth in Kokabiel's office! Your job _required_ you to save that woman. Not because she prayed for it, or even because she deserved it, but because of what would happen if she _wasn't_ saved."

"W-what are you-"

"The woman had been a caretaker at an orphanage. She had taken great pleasure in sneaking off to the rooms of little boys and girls to molest them. She had been a pedophile and a rapist, she had been heartless, cruel, and did things that even _I_ would never dream of."

Dohnaseek seemed to have calmed down from his rage, but even then, he felt himself feel utterly confused. "So why, why was I asked to save the life of such _scum?_ "

"She had repented and changed her ways. However, the boy who had kidnapped her years later and violated her was simply a twisted orphan taking revenge." Mittelt paused, and shook her head. "She hadn't escaped because there was a part of her that understood that it was karma, and she was atoning for her crimes; and she had felt that if she had died there, then it would be divine will that such was her atonement."

"And, I was kicked out of heaven, because I didn't help out that pathetic _filth_?!" The outrage in his voice was almost tangible.

"No." Mittelt corrected "When she had died, she had contained so much negative emotions her spirit had stayed in the world. It had gone on a rampage. It killed the boy, and everyone that was related to the boy, and everyone related to everyone related to the boy and so on. Her spirit _massacred_ over _eight thousand_ people – that's with _four_ zeros – until it was eventually exorcised."

There was a _beat._

"The exorcists and angels traced up her story and found out that the reason so many people had died, the reason so much life was lost was because _you_ had chosen to let your _sentiments_ get in the way of doing your job." Mittelt said, "That, Don-chan, Mr. Keeper-of-the-Tome-of-Armaros, is why you were kicked out of heaven."

Dohnaseek's face contorted into a myriad of different emotions, his eyes went pale as though all the blood had been sucked out of his eyeballs, his face seemed to age, and all at once, he shook his head and began an incoherent muttering of words.

"But I didn't- There was no way I could have- It doesn't mean- I-I-I-" with a glance towards Mittelt, he found himself unable to utter any more words but the final three.

"I-I didn't know."

"No you didn't," Mittelt said, "But now, you do."

His body began to _crumble_.

The Undead Fallen Angel said nothing as he watched his feet turn to ash and started withering away with the dust, his pale skin becoming chalky white and as his form began to dissipate into non-existence.

That was when he noticed _them_. The remaining members of the Sitri peerage who he had assumed had simply been knocked out-cold by Kokabiel's release of energy.

' _So that was their plan all along…_ ' Dohnaseek thought absently ' _They all faked unconsciousness, and while I paid no attention to them, they unraveled Kokabiel-sama's_ _ **Null Void – Maxima**_ _with Mittelt's aid...'_

It didn't matter to the Fallen Angel anymore.

Nothing mattered.

Not the powerful blasts of energy he could witness from Kokabiel's fight, not Mittelt's sad, almost solicitous smile, not the devils' semi-pitying gazes and certainly not his own slowly vanquishing form.

He found himself staring once more into the pale face of death and uttering unto her his final rueful words.

"I didn't know."

* * *

 **~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~**

 **Sona vs. Kokabiel**

The actions of which she partook of that day was one that she'd look back, years from now, and shake her head at the pure stupidity and blatant overdramatic nature of it all. It simply wasn't in her nature to do something so over the top, or something so conniving, but yet, she had done it anyway because she believed the words of Hyoudou Issei.

Her mind, slowly went over the meticulous plan that had been devised, and Issei's words resonated within her.

" _Defeating Kokabiel isn't the hard part. The hard part is letting the entire world know that it was_ you _who defeated Kokabiel._ " _Issei said_

" _Me?" she said, curiosity clear on her features "It's impossible for me to face a Cadre Class Fallen Angel and win on my own. It would be more plausible if people heard that the Red Dragon Emperor was the one responsible. I'd simply be able to establish myself as being present at the battle."_

 _Issei shook his head._

" _I don't need the credit, and I'd prefer it if no one knew I was involved in the plan to begin with. But that's impossible, so the least I can do is make it seem that I only played a minor role in the entire battle."_

" _And how exactly do you propose we accomplish those two things?"_

" _Simple," Issei's grin was almost contagious "You need to swear."_

Sona flew to the top of a nearby skyscraper, almost fifty feet high, and made sure that she was within the view of the rampaging Fallen Angel. Kokabiel spotted her form, and an amused smile seemed to grace his lips.

"Ah? Have you grown tired of our little game of cat and mouse? Somehow, those vermin have found a way to eliminate my Null Void Rune. An unprecedented event, but nonetheless, I did not think you to be the sort to openly challenge me in battle Sitri heir."

Kokabiel's overwhelming power had faded, but his presence had not diminished in the slightest as he stretched forth his hands and gestured towards himself.

"Even if I am weakened to less than a fraction of my full strength, and even if I stand alone against so many of you pests, you cannot best me in pure combat. So tell me, what mutable strategy have you concocted against me now?"

Sona's forced down the lump in her throat and maintained her stony expression even as she instinctively felt her entire body vibrating in anxiousness.

The Sitri heiress created a sharp, serrated blade of water, drawing from her demonic powers, she slashed her hand, and raised it high.

"On my name as Sona of Clan Sitri, and on the blood which runs through the veins of myself, my father, and my forefathers and the blood of all those of his creation, I swear upon this blood that on this day I shall vanquish the being known as Kokabiel in single combat, and mar his head up on the gates of hell."

There was a _beat_.

Sona ignored the massive surge of killing intent as she continued "For so it is on earth, so shall it be on heaven, so shall it be in hell."

" _ **G**_ _i_ _ **r**_ _l… Have you any idea as to what you have just done?_ " Kokabiel's stentorian voice emitted as a guttural growl "You just made an Oath that everyone in hell and everyone in heaven heard. Do you know the consequences of failing to uphold a Blood Pledge?"

"I do not intend to find out."

" _Sona_ Sitri…" Kokabiel said, for the first time addressing the girl by her given name "…Today you have earned my respect; If not for your tactical cunning, then, for the sheer levels of stupid bravado from which I have never experienced from one so young."

"Therefore…" Kokabiel channeled whatever energy he had left as his eyes turned pure white "…today, by the hands of I, Kokabiel, The Former Candidate for Archangel and Seraph, The General of the Grigori, The Warmonger of Heaven and Commander of the Grigori, in the presence of The Seraphs, The Satans, The Fallen, of all the Companies of Heaven and The Consortiums of Hell…

"…I sentence you to die."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

Stupidity. Utmost and complete stupidity of the likes that he had never seen before, and that was saying something considering how long he had lived.

Azazel, the General Commander and Leader of the Grigori swore as he realized he would have to run some serious damage control at this point in time. He had heard the declaration, and there was no bloody doubt that every Fallen Angel, Devil and Angel on the face of the goddamned universe hadn't heard the same declaration.

Kokabiel had just single-handedly succeeded in his desire to re-spark the holy war, by announcing to everyone, that he planned to perform an execution of the heiress of the Sitri clan, and the younger sister to the current Leviathan.

He felt a presence appear beside him, and Azazel almost wanted to vaporize that presence.

"Raynare, isn't the reason I assigned you to spy on Kokabiel in the first place to ensure that I know if he ever plans to do something _this_ stupid?"

"Yes Azazel-sama, but-"

"But what? What could possibly be your excuse?"

"I have a message for you… from the Red Dragon Emperor."

Azazel grabbed the letter from Raynare's hands, tearing it upon as his eyes rapidly scanned the parchment, until slowly, his lips began morphing into a smile, then, into a grin, and before long, the General Commander of the Fallen Angels had found himself engulfed into a long, hearty laughter of the kinds that Raynare had never seen from the usually collected being.

"A-Azazel-sama?" Raynare asked, uncertain as to the reason for his current state of laughter.

"Come Raynare, thanks to the Red Dragon Emperor, we have much to do."

"But, what of Kokabiel-sama?"

Simply mentioning the name of the Fallen Angel alone sent Azazel into another fit of laughter, as the Commander of the Grigori shook his head, and walked away, leaving the Gamer's spy wondering just what in the world had been written in that letter.

It seems she would eventually find out.

* * *

 **~~~~~~~~~DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~**

 **Sona and Issei Vs Kokabiel**

Sona took in a deep breath of the acrid, fuliginous air, despite it being condensed and compressed by the sheer power of the Fallen Angel's might, she managed to find herself at peace, and she noted, with an odd sense of calm, that her body had stopped involuntarily shaking.

" _Swear?" She asked, "Did I hear you right?"_

" _Allow me to explain," Issei had said "In ancient times, the Greek Gods would often make promises that they were bound to keep, but seeing as how they were gods and generally, they were immortal, they often became notorious oath-breakers. So, in an attempt to mitigate this problem, whenever the Greek Gods decided to take their most solemn of oaths, they would swear upon the River Styx. This was seen as the oath being true and full, and it was almost literarily impossible to break said oath, lest their punishment would occur in the form of a great catastrophe."_

" _I am aware of this tradition, but what does this have to do with anything?"_

" _There is a version of the River Styx Oath which works for all three Judeo-Christian factions."_

" _You want me to make an Oath to kill Kokabiel?"_

" _I want you to_ pretend _to make an Oath to kill Kokabiel."_

" _What?"_

" _From what I've heard of Kokabiel, he's supposedly arrogant and overconfident. What do you think this arrogant, confident and superior opponent will do once someone he deems to be inferior to him_ supposedly _makes a binding solemn vow to kill him?"_

It was a plan that Sona would have to admit never having thought of. The words she had uttered when she cut her palm were just a bunch of rehearsed phrases made to sound like an original sacred oath, while in fact it was nothing but mere jargon.

Kokabiel however, had been fooled by this plan into believing that the oath was real, and in return, the Fallen Angel had made an _actual_ sacred oath, on his name in which he was effectively ordering her death.

The reason for this was two-fold: firstly, anyone and everyone were now aware that Kokabiel had decided to execute Sona. A member of the Grigori attempting to kill the younger sister of one of the four Satans was easily considered an act of war.

Had she made an actual sacred oath, she would have been faulted for attempting to incite a war, and attacking a Fallen Angel for no just cause. However, with Kokabiel being the one to make the oath, once he was defeated, she would suffer no political backlash because she had the excuse of being the defensive party who had suffered an unprovoked attack.

The second reason was that no one was actually going to expect her to survive, much less win against Kokabiel. Doing so would not only be more impressive, but it would also make it known that the Holy War was prevented from being re-sparked by her efforts.

Sona knew full well that there were seers and people who possessed clairvoyant abilities both in heaven and in hell, and there was no doubt that the very second Kokabiel made his declaration, her battle was instantly under scrutiny by multiple watchful eyes.

Speaking of eyes, hers had widened to levels no one had seen before as she scrambled out of the way of a humongous beam of light the size of an average airplane.

The attack had vaporized the entire skyscraper she had been standing on, and everything from that point onwards for a three hundred foot radius, almost utterly destroying every last skyscraper in the vicinity.

Sona was instantly beginning to have her doubts about facing the being, only to suddenly jerk as a sudden wave of pleasure hit her and her body instantly went rigid. She bit her lip as her eyes glazed over, and instantly began a mental battle within her psyche.

" _Don't fight it._ "

The Sitri heiress calmed down immensely upon hearing the familiar voice reverberate within her.

"Hyoudou-kun?" she said with a soft whisper.

" _Sorry about that, it's my first time taking possession of someone while inside their shadow… it feels different."_

As if to emphasize, Sona almost let out an indignant squawk when she found performing a perfect split by raising her left leg and aiming it upwards.

" _You're also_ way _more flexible than I thought, that's... really… good._ "

"Do you really think this is the appropriate time for you to be considering lewd uses of my flexibility?"

" _...You can hear my thoughts?_ "

"No. You're just really predictable Hyoudou-kun."

" _I'm certain you won't feel the same way I'm done taking your body for a joyride."_

"As long as that's the _only_ type of ride you intend on taking."

" _Looks like someone does have naughty thoughts. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the only reason you agreed to this plan is because you secretly have some sort of possession fetish."_

"Hyoudou-kun, did you just suggest that I get sexually aroused by the idea of someone or something else controlling my body to perform lewd acts?"

" _I didn't hear a denial._ "

…

…

" _Wait a minute, you_ actually _have a-"_

"Can we focus on more important matters Hyoudou-kun, such as the Cadre Class fallen angel who just swore to kill me?"

" _This battle is almost at an end… all that's left, is to know how Sitri-sama would prefer her finale."_

"You're giving me the option?"

" _It's your reputation that's at stake here. So, would you like a long satisfying battle with Kokabiel, or perhaps would you prefer a short, decisive battle in which he is defeated in one move?"_

Sona let out a soft hum of deliberation, her eyes shifting into one of focus.

"Let's go for the shorter route. This has dragged on long enough."

" _As you wish._ " Issei said " _But first, let me grant you a little something to aid with the fight._ _ **Boost Transfer.**_ _"_

 _Ping!_

 **You have transferred your accumulated energy!**

Sona's body shook as though she'd been exposed to a powerful electric current, yet, rather than pain, she felt nothing but sensual ecstasy. She bit her lip in order to prevent herself from making any sounds that would have given Issei cause to smirk, and ignored the growing heat on her cheeks and between her thighs as she felt her power surge to unexpected levels that she had never experienced before.

Issei however, was examining his accomplishment.

 **Sona Sitri Lv. 164 [Temp]**

As expected, he had boosted all her stats as well as her overall level. She was still several levels short of Kokabiel, but with his injuries, and with what the Gamer had planned for his coup de grace, it shouldn't' be much of an issue.

" _Now…"_ Issei said " _…let's get dangerous."_

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

Kokabiel was not a being who liked surprises.

He had only been surprised a handful of times in his entire life and existence. The most recent of which would be when he had been taken unaware by Hyoudou Issei's letter bomb kidnap attempt. Then again, Kokabiel was certain that no one would ever expect such a tactic, not even Azazel, for all of his so-called tactical prowess would have been able to anticipate and respond to such a trap before it had actually sprung.

Still, he had sworn to himself not to be ever caught off guard or caught by surprise like that ever again.

One minute, he was ruthlessly oppressing Sona Sitri and her little party of friends who had dared go against him, _him_ , and then the next, he suddenly found the girl charging forward towards him.

She actually intended on attacking him. _HIM!_

He had stopped holding back the second she had dared utter a sacred oath, and part of him felt that it was nothing more than an empty bluff, but to actually see someone so easily outclassed attempt to fight back simply made his day.

Still, he decided he would be merciful and end the fight quickly.

A bolt of holy energy materialized as light and he thrust it at her. He had expected her to either dodge or be vaporized, in either case, she no matter how she dodged, she would still fall within his range. She was finished, whether she knew it or not, and then he would focus his attempts on killing the Red Dragon Emperor. His actions would no doubt spark the revival of the Holy War, so either way, everything would work in his favor.

Only for his reality to come crashing all around him.

A blue seal signifying the crest of the Sitri clan appeared in the girl's left hand, and with a burst of speed that Kokabiel was _certain_ she did not possess earlier, she vanished and reappeared behind him, a long sword of demonic water that was literally buzzing in her palm.

His bolt of energy was split in half, dissipating away like the early morning mist.

And all at once, his left arm and wings were gone.

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

"Gaaaahhhh! MY ARM! MY FUCKING ARM!"

If she were to have undergone a psych evaluation at that time, Sona knew that she would have been categorized as a Grade 'A' Sadist. But she didn't care. At that point in time but there was nothing more satisfying than hearing the smug and almighty Fallen Angel cry out in anguish. Her lips managed to part into a small, buoyant smile and she flicked away the blood from her makeshift liquid blade. A part of her felt that she was enjoying watching Kokabiel roar and clutch the bloody stump that was previously his arm a little _too_ much.

She ignored it.

The power flowing through her body was nothing short of ambrosial! The sweet orgasmic ecstasy of unbridled energy rushing through her veins was unbelievable! She felt like she could take on all the gods of the world and win. Her blood bubbled within her veins and her hair stood on edge, every part of her was just aching to spring into action. It was like she had been injected with the raw adrenaline of a stallion in heat while on a caffeine high.

If this was how Issei felt all the time, she could understand the reason for his eccentricities.

That was why, with the power granted unto her, she had made sure to also cut off Kokabiel's last usable wings alongside his arm, ensuring that the being wouldn't be flying again.

Ever.

" _Well someone's rather bloodthirsty._ "

"Issei? I thought you left."

" _I did. But Kokabiel's screams were so loud I dropped by to check up on you."_ Issei said " _Seems like a wasted effort though. Do remind me never to get on your bad side."_

With her hair let down in a frizzy mess, her glasses haven being lost in all the chaos, her uniform torn, damaged and stained with blood, Sona managed to let out a small chuckle, and then before she knew it, she found herself caught up in a giggling fit.

Well, that was... _odd_.

" _Sona? Are you okay?"_

"Do I frighten you Hyoudou-kun?"

Issei found the question sudden, and slightly out of place.

" _You more of turn me on than scare me."_

She let out another snort of laughter. "Of course."

" _Sona… do you still remember the plan?"_

"Oh don't be such a bore Hyoudou-kun. The plan works all well and fine, but I believe I can handle this from here on."

Issei almost froze in shock. Sona Sitri saying that they should _abandon_ a plan?

" _There's something wrong Sona, I think we need to end this quickly."_

"There's nothing wrong Hyoudou-kun. Nothing wrong at all…" she craned her neck, allowing it to make a sickening cracking sound as she raised her humming water blade and pointed it in Kokabiel's direction. Her eyes glinted and she let her tongue slowly run over her lips as her body had fallen into position for another dash.

"In fact, for the first time in a long while… _I feel alive!_ "

Sona cackled, actually _cackled_ with glee as she charged forward at Kokabiel, the concrete on which she had been standing on having shattered from the force of her sudden acceleration. The Fallen Angel judiciously realized that staying still would not be in his best interests as he narrowly avoided an overhead slash from Sona's Water Blade that would have perfectly cleaved him in two.

Despite him dodging, his eyes nearly bulged out once he spotted the damage the sword had done, slicing up the _concrete_ deep enough and long enough for it to create a trench that appeared as though it had been caused by an earthquake, and not a blade made of water.

"I-I-Impossible! H-how do you have _that_ much power?!" Kokabiel swore, gritting his teeth as he had to leap back away from another strike shooting volleys of light spheres to gain distance, seeing as how he could no longer fly.

"Is it not obvious?" Sona responded as her figure blurred into multiple afterimages in order to avoid Kokabiel's volley "I made an oath to slay you Kokabiel! And when I make a promise, nothing in heaven and nothing in hell will stop me from keeping it!"

Kokabiel grit his teeth, and then, like some phantom had whispered a joke only he was privy to, a smirk suddenly furnished his face. It was what he lived for, battles that would push him to his peak, conflict with opponents that would make him evolve to greater heights.

Yes. Kokabiel, for the first time in a long while, was _happy._

"Do not underestimate me girl! I've been fighting battles long before your father was in diapers!" Kokabiel said as he generated a beam of light. The Cadre Class Fallen Angel let out a roar of pain as he cauterized the stump that was left in place of his left arm, the harsh sound of hissing flesh and the acrid stench of burning meat permeating the air for decent amount of time.

Kokabiel panted, his breaths coming out in harsh strains, yet, his smirk never left his face as he summoned a sword of light with his one remaining arm, and pointed it at Sona.

"Do not take me for some second-rate Fallen Angel! Even if you cut off my arms I will kick you to death! If you cut off my feet I will bite you to death! If you shatter my teeth I will bash you to death with my skull! If you wish to stop me, you must destroy every last part of me, every organ, every tissue and every cell…!" The Fallen Angel channeled whatever modicum of power he had left as he moved into a stance "Fail to do so and I will not stop Sona Sitri, I will not stop until my sentence is carried out, and I will not stop untilyour cooling corpse lays beneath my feet! _I will not stop until you are dead!_ "

"I _am_ Sona Sitri! Heiress to the Sitri Clan, sister of the Satan Leviathan! Kokabiel! The only person who will be sentenced to death today…" her entire body was instantly engulfed with demonic energy, "…is _you!"_

High Class Devil and High Class Angel both charged, leaving a baffling, ear-shattering boom as both figures had consequently broken the sound barrier.

Then, their swords clashed.

And the world turned to ruin.

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

" _Sona! Sona! Goddamnit don't make me take control of your body!"_

His calls were futile. The girl had completely tuned him out, it was as though she had forgotten he was still inside her shadow. He could use the Shadow Possession to take control of her once more, but in the midst of such a heated battle, any slip-up could easily lead to her being killed.

 _Do it. How dare she ignore you? All that power she has! All of it is yours to begin with! She's supposed to submit to you!_

" _Shut up Darkness. Not now._ "

 _You ignore me, you suppress me, yet, the ability which grants you the use of my domain suggests otherwise. It's only a matter of time Issei. One way or another, you will embrace the darkness – and it will embrace you._

Issei shook off the chilling warning, doing his best to push back the creeping voices in favor of thinking of a solution to his current dilemma. He couldn't stop her in any obvious way because the entire battle was being watched by seers and clairvoyants from all three factions, all across the world. This was not mere speculation, as the Gamer's Sense Danger skill had upgraded enough to the point where he was alerted about when he was being watched.

Issei frowned within the girl's shadow, and quietly cast a subtle Observe on her status.

 **Status Effects:** **Enhanced Greater Power Boost [Temp]** **,** **Bloodlust** **,** **Tyrant's Fervor**

' _What in the world?'_ He could understand the first one as being the power he transferred to her, but what was with the other two.

 _Ping!_

 **You've discovered two special status effects!**

 **[Bloodlust]: This is a focused, targeted and far more lethal form of the [Berserk] status effect only available to beings of High-Ranking Class. Anyone or anything afflicted with this status effect gains an undeniable urge to murder or maim the target of their choice at any and all costs. However, this urge is cold and calculated rather than heated and spontaneous, thus granting a 100% Critical Hit Chance and an extra 150% Critical Hit Damage with a 50% Reduction in Damage Taken.**

 **[Tyrant's Fervor]: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Upon receiving a tremendous surge of power from an external source, those afflicted with this Status Effect gain a strong desire to fight, conquer, and dominate their opponents until there is absolutely nothing left. Grants x4 to all stats, 25% Chance to inflict [Shaken] status effect on enemies, 10% Chance to inflict [Panicked] Status effect on enemies and eliminates all Negative Status Effects.**

 **Requires: abrupt, tremendous increase in power levels.**

 **Effectiveness is reduced with each subsequent acquisition.**

Well fuck; that explained it.

It also possibly explained why she had been able to slice Kokabiel's arm off with such ease. Her current overall stats and buffs were _slightly_ above that of the Cadre Class Fallen Angel could boast of, not to mention, Kokabiel was already tremendously injured to begin with.

Still, that put him at a loss. No plan survived contact with the enemy. He was a living witness to just how true that was.

Of course the original plan was more or less a cheat, but then with this new development, did he still need to follow it? Sona could pretty much kill Kokabiel herself, so long as she was able to land the killing blow before the boost he provided wore off.

Decisions, decisions.

 _Ping!_

 **Karmic Choice Unlocked!**

 **The Show Must Go On!**

" _Really, now of all times?"_

 **You have reached a point at which your decisions could possibly alter not only your alignment, but the events of the world at large!**

 **Due to unlocking a Karmic Choice while on a quest, your karmic rating and possible new alignment will only be revealed to you once the quest is completed. So remember to choose carefully!**

 **Options:**

 **\- [Puppet Master]: Attempt to return Sona to her senses and proceed with the plan.**

 **\- [Oath Enforcer]: Let Sona defeat Kokabiel on her own.**

 **\- [Fabled Improviser]: Continue to implement the Plan regardless of Sona's state.**

Issei carefully thought it over. The first option had its merits, but at this point in time, Sona had already made it clear that her current power level was about equal to Kokabiel, and trying to get her to return to her previous state would be counterintuitive to their plans in the first place. So that was out.

The second option was also bad because it would be beyond stupid of him to simply leave it all to the girl. Her power was just slightly above Kokabiel's at this point, and given that the Fallen angel was critically injured, deprived of his flight and crippled, there was the chance that she _could_ win quite clearly on her own. But there was also the possibility that the power boost could fade at any given moment, leaving her a sitting duck that would get massacred in nanoseconds.

So that left him with the third option, which seemed to be the only pragmatic one left. The plan could still work, with some minor adjustments here and there, it could still be perfectly tweaked to suit the situation.

The first option might have been the _right_ thing to do, as Sona was clearly not in her right frame of mind at the moment, and any action she took as of now would not exactly be a true representation of her character.

But… even Issei couldn't deny that seeing Sona duke it out equally with Kokabiel was over a hundred percent more awesome than he would have ever expected.

Not to mention it upped her sex-appeal by a factor of ten, but that was beside the point.

The entire process of thought costing him _fewer_ than _two seconds_ , Issei made his choice.

 **[Fabled Improviser] Selected!**

It was not a moment too soon as he found himself roughly ejected from Sona's shadow, and it left him baffled as he stared at the empty black and white space of the Shadow Realm.

"So I guess this means I can't reside in the shadows of people fast enough to break the sound barrier." Issei said to himself, shaking his head at the odd concept. Breaking the sound barrier, his mind did the mental math of how fast an object needed to be to accomplish that feat; three hundred and forty three meters per second, which was about _seven hundred and sixty-seven_ miles per hour.

"Ridiculous. Just, fucking ridiculous."

Sona and Kokabiel weren't even the strongest beings in the world, and yet they could break the freaking _sound barrier_. Albeit Sona could only do such because of Issei's help, the fact remained that she had done it. Issei fathomed to think, what would Sona's sister, the Leviathan, be able to do? What would someone like the Lucifer or Michael be capable of? Much less the likes of Ophis, the Great Red, Naruto, and _Death_.

All at once, any arrogance of power Issei had was shattered like glass.

"Ddraig… this world is too damn OP."

" _Says the boy with two of the Strongest Sacred Gears in existence, both of which lets him gain power faster than anyone else alive."_

"Touché Ddraig… touché."

Issei blinked, staring at the massive dome of energy and shockwave that was expanding outward from the point at which Sona and Kokabiel had clashed. The energy was expanding, its color oddly morphing between a blend of demonic energy and holy energy and it could even be described as… _twilight_.

"Oh… you've got to be fucking kidding me."

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

 **With Rias and Co.**

"What in the world is going on?!"

Rias was confused, she could have sworn that she had seen Sona actually fight and take on Kokabiel; there was so much going on that she just didn't understand, and at this point, she wondered what the hell she was even doing there. She had been of very little help in the entire fight so far, and it was awakening a self-realization that she _needed_ to seriously start training herself and her peerage.

She spotted Tsubasa, Saji and the rest of Sona's peerage alongside with Koneko and Kiba, and she instantly went off to the blue haired devil to demand some explanations.

"What's going on?! Why is Sona fighting Kokabiel, no- _how_ is Sona fighting Kokabiel?"

"I don't know! Issei never mentioned any of this in the plan!"

So apparently the mysterious plan had been derailed, but it didn't explain anything that was going on at the moment.

There was an ear-shattering crack and Rias almost did not want to believe what her mind had told her that the crack was.

It was only until they all heard the stentorian voice of Issei that it confirmed her fears.

"ANYONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO DIE – RUN! LADIES MOVE THOSE SEXY LEGS AND RUN!"

Upon seeing the rapidly expanding dome of energy that was _disintegrating everything_ in sight, no one needed to be told twice.

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

 **Issei Vs. Hidan**

"Kalawarner, unless you somehow have some form of death wish, I believed I instructed _everyone_ to run."

Issei had made a mad dash with Sprint to reach to Hidan's location, and as expected, Kalawarner was still keeping watch over the blinded and restrained Hidan.

"What? You instructed me to watch over him-"

"And now I'm bloody instructing you to run," Issei said, pointing at the slowly creeping dome behind him "You see that dome? That's what happens when light energy and demonic energy are blended in wrong quantities. It'll first expand and _vaporize_ everything caught in its path, and then afterwards, it'll explode in a manner not unlike antimatter."

"Antimatter?"

"Ah… er…" how did he explain the destructive potential of antimatter to a fallen angel? "Think of it as a multiple nukes going off at once."

"I… see." The fallen angel slowly nodded, before her wings flapped into existence "And… what of you? You do not intend to escape certain death?"

"I thought you didn't care about what happened to me."

"I do not." She said, quite bluntly too "If anything part of me wishes that you die a horrendous death so I would be granted my freedom."

"Gee… Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"At the same time… If Kokabiel-sama dies, and if you die… I will have no purpose left in this world."

Issei let a scowl form on his face at the notion "You have free will. Don't you have any dreams or goals you want to accomplish? Any secret desires you wish you could attain?"

"My entire existence as an angel was meant to serve. To protect. Guide. Guard. Even as a Fallen Angel, I still uphold those values, no matter how much others consider me naïve for doing so."

"I thought you hated me; why would you still want to serve me?"

"I _despise_ you because you have made me go against my code. Made me betray my master. Took hold of my services by holding my own soul has hostage against me."

Issei cringed. She really did make him out to be some form of horrendous villain. Who knew what else he had done that was morally questionable in his desire to change the timeline.

"So… why would you follow me?"

She paused, staring at the dome that was slowly expanding. "I do not know myself. Perhaps I find it odd, how your words and your deeds stand in contradiction… so perhaps, I will follow you, and now, I will stand by you just to see what sort of person you are, Red Dragon Emperor."

Issei smiled.

"Thank you, Kalawarner."

Still, his mind was occupied with other thoughts. Throughout the entire battle with the ancient shinobi, Issei's own problems did not lay in finding out a way to defeat Hidan but rather, in finding out a way to _permanently_ kill him. He was supposedly immortal, and possessed regenerative capabilities, which provided Issei with the answer to his dilemma. Hidan's regeneration was not _instantaneous_ , which would imply that all he needed to do was to find a way to utterly destroy him down on a cellular level before it could kick in. Or if that failed, destroy him in a manner that would prevent the man's consciousness from returning to the world, which would of course imply, once more, utterly destroying his brain and everything hence within.

"Kalawarner, Fallen Angels are able to manipulate the minds of humans right?"

The tall Fallen Angel in question rose an eyebrow "We can remove human memories of us yes, but we do not have mind control. The best we can do is input subtle mental suggestions into the minds of humans."

"Perfect. Can you teach me?"

"W-what? Don't be ridiculous. It takes several years of training to properly learn how to do that, not to mention, I believe only Angels with light energy should be able to-"

Kalawarner stopped in her tracks as Issei tried, and from memory, using Energy Manipulation was able to create a katana of light. He ignored the notification saying he had obtained a new skill accurately named Light Katana, in favor of taking in Kalawarner's shocked expression.

"Can you teach me?"

A stiff nod was his only response.

"Perfect."

Seconds later, Issei was treated to the beautiful sound he loved to hate.

 _Ping!_

 **Through practice, with the aid of a skill [Perfect Vision] and with the help of a tutor, you have gained a skill that allows you to subtly input thoughts and suggestions into the mind of others!**

 **You have gained the skill,** **Inception** **Lv. 4!**

 **For this skill to work, your combined Charisma, Intelligence and Wisdom stats must be equal to or above that of target. Alternatively, there is a higher chance of success if the target's mental defenses have been worn out by other psychological status effects.**

There was literally no time left to spare, as Issei noticed the dome was getting ridiculously closer to him.

"Kalawarner, go. It's time I end this"

"Are you certain?"

Issei smiled. "You won't be able to see what type of person I am if you're dead. Besides, what type of person would I be if I let a beautiful lady like yourself get in harm's way trying to fix my mistakes?"

"B-beautiful?"

"For heaven's sake- you can blush and deny it when you're not near a wall of all-consuming energy. Now, GO!"

The Fallen Angel didn't need to be told twice as she took to the air, clear away from danger.

"So, that only leaves you." Issei walked over the blinded form of Hidan, who was on the floor, having being restrained by Shadow Anchor.

"Alright, let's do this… Inception…" a cold chill ran down Issei's spine "…I really need to find a better name for this skill."

At first he had met some resistance, but it didn't take long for him to overcome them, it was the mental equivalent of picking a lock, and before long, he had opened the 'door' and left within it, his own subtle desire.

Certain that he had accomplished his goal, Issei released the pagan priest from his Shadow Anchor and restored unto him his sight.

"YOU! MOTHER! FUCKER!"

Thankfully, Hidan was still in a berserk state, which made everything Issei was going to do next much easier.

' _Bluff! Fallacy! Taunt!'_ "Damn Hidan, you're the weakest person I've ever fought. Is your entire life devoted to being a perfect example of an utter waste of space?" Issei said.

The Gamer let out a soft grin before summoning a particular test tube filled with blood "I mean, I've heard about your ability to possess people with their blood, and if that's you're greatest skill, you might just give up now. You know what, I'll give you my blood just to prove how utterly futile your attempts at killing me are."

He tossed the vial over to the enraged man, and as Issei had anticipated, the pagan priest took the bait.

"You fucking moron! You just fucking gave me everything I need to kill you!"

Issei rolled his eyes, using Taunt, "I love how you state the obvious with _such_ a sense of discovery."

"I'll show you! **Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood!** "

Issei stared at the man, who had rapidly drawn a symbol on the ground, and then he clasped his hands together in a handsign. His skin turned as he took on some form of Grim Reaper-like appearance, complete with black skin and white bone-like markings.

Issei almost laughed. This was the moment that his entire plan had been based around. His plan had originally been to use Hidan's jutsu to kill Kokabiel, while the Fallen Angel was kept occupied by Sona, it would appear as though Sona had been the one to kill him, and with everyone's attention on Kokabiel due to the Fallen Angel making his obnoxious oath, no one would ever suspect that the real reason Kokabiel had died was because of some-other figure pulling the strings behind the shadows.

Supposedly, Hidan had been tricked into doing something similar in the past, however, that was why Issei needed to implant a subtle suggestion in the man's mind. He made Hidan _believe_ that he was saying the truth, and that the Gamer really was an arrogant, pompous opponent who would let his enemy use his most powerful technique on him.

Combined with Taunt and Fallacy it had enough sway to the point that Hidan never even questioned where he had gotten the tube from, or _how_ he even knew about the man's forbidden technique in the first place.

Alas, there was no time left for introspection.

Using his new technique, Light Katana, and wielding them in both hands, Issei lunged.

"W-what the fuck are you doing you- _gurk!_ "

Whatever the fool had to say was cut short, literally, as Issei's swords lopped off Hidan's head, the Gamer doing his best to ignore the spurt of blood that emerged from the now headless body, as it fell over in a dead heap.

Hidan's head rolled across the ground, slowly, until it came to a gentle stop.

"YOU COCKSUCKING SON OF A BITCH! YOU FUCKING TRICKED ME!"

Issei cringed at the sight of the silver haired man's talking head, with his Logic persona going on in outrage about the impossibility of someone being able to talk without any connection to their lungs, yet alone their voice box.

"Not my fault," Issei said pointing to his head "You either use it, or lose it."

The Gamer walked over to the severed head, picking it up from the hair, he let out a soft sigh.

"I'm afraid in this world, you have to do anything to get ahead."

Reaching into his inventory, he brought out a piece of paper, the last of his fantastic Final Twilight seals, and then he firmly stuck it inside Hidan's mouth, ignoring the man's attempt to bite him, and made sure the paper was deep enough inside his throat – or what was left of it.

The man's ability to speak was somehow impaired by this, but it didn't stop him from giving Issei the nastiest, meanest glare the teen had ever seen before.

Issei didn't care anyway and tossed the man's severed head, as far as he could, into the expanding dome of energy.

Slowly, he turned around and walked away, not even bothering to look on at the massive twilight flash that had engulfed not only the space behind him, but also utterly disintegrated Hidan's body to ash.

Why?

Because cool guys don't look at explosions.

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 _PING!_

 **Main Quest Complete!**

 **Back From the Future!**

 **One way or another, you have swum through the flowing river known as time and gained knowledge and insight you did not previously possess.**

 **Prevent history from repeating itself by utilizing your knowledge of events that would occur in time.**

 **Main Objectives** **:-**

 **Revive Tsubasa**

 **Prevent Murayama's Fate**

 **Find, befriend and protect Asia Argento**

 **Kill the Anomaly 'Hidan'.**

 **Bonus Objectives** **:**

 **Tactical Grandmaster: Convinced Sona to aid you in your quest. Complete!**

 **The Devil's in the Detail: Tricked Rias into signing up with you. Complete!**

 **Devil Contractor: Cured Murayama by having Sona turn her into a devil. Complete!**

 **Guardian Angels: Recruited Raynare, Kalawarner and Mittelt. Complete!**

 **The Devil You Know: Sided with your devil allies to take down Kokabiel. Complete!**

 **Devil May Cry: Sided with Kokabiel to kill Hidan. Failed!**

 **I'm-Mortal: Found a way to Kill Hidan. Complete!**

 **Rewards: Gained 90,000 EXP! Gained Increased Relationship with the Devil Faction! Gained Increased Relationship with the Angel Faction! Gained Increased Relationship with the Yokai Faction! Unlocked title: Fabled Improviser! Unlocked Weapon: Unhallowed Scythe of the Damned, Achievement Unlocked: Immortal Executioner! Achievement Unlocked: Bomberman!**

 **Bonus Rewards: Gained a boosted 12,000 EXP per Bonus Objective! Gained 4500 Prestige points! Gained ability to leave Kuoh! Gained Access to Realm: Underworld! Unlocked: Underworld Jobs! Unlocked: Underworld Quests!**

 **Several New Operations are now Available for Umbra Sumus.**

 **You have attained over Five Thousand Prestige Points! Your Influence has garnered you favors in places you never expected!**

 **You can now seek an audience with Kings, Queens and figures of notable political prowess in the Human Realm. You can seek an audience with Mafia Dons, Yakuza Bosses, CEOs, Police Commisioners, Mayors and Governors in the Human Realm. You can now seek an audience with Barons, Baronets, Archdukes, Archduchesses, Demon Kings and Demon Queens in the Underworld. You can now attempt to seek an audience with gods. You can now buy, own and manage large scale businesses such as hotels, bars, restaurants and casinos in the human realm. You can now buy land in the Underworld.**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your level has gone up by 1!**

 **You have gained an additional 70 Stat points. You have gained an additional Two Perk Points.**

"Damn! That's a lot to take in all at once." Still, there was the feeling of euphoria at finally haven completed the mission, especially given it's ludicrous time limit. He felt like it had been thirteen days instead of just a mere thirteen hours since he started the quest.

And now, he had finally killed the first anomaly.

 _Ping!_

 **Anomaly Fixed!**

 **Extra Data Files Found.**

"What… what the hell?"

 **Auto-Download Data Initiated.**

 **Initializing…**

"What the hell are extra data fi-"

 **Auto-Download Data Complete.**

 **Installing New Data…**

 **Initializing…**

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 **Gained +97 Strength!**

 **Gained +105 Vitality!**

 **Gained + 74 Dexterity!**

 **Gained +21 Intelligence!**

 **Gained +9 Wisdom!**

 **Gained +17 Charisma!**

 **Gained +5 Luck!**

"What. The. Hell."

Before Issei could question the sudden reason he had been awarded massive stat boosts, his mind was instantly flooded with memories. A huge deal of the memories consisted of nothing but staring at dirt, dust, grime and soil for what felt like _eons_ , before he reached some more memories. Of a pineapple haired boy, a creepy figure with wires all over his body, a room filled with people wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them… and he saw… was that _Naruto?_

Before he could question it, he had blacked out, and found himself staring at nothing but empty space. It wasn't the empty space that had comprised of Death's domain, so he knew he was still alive… but where was he?

" **Do you know what hubris is** _ **Hyoudou**_ **Issei?** "

"Who's there?"

" **You were asked a question. Do you know what hubris is?** "

The Gamer frowned before his lips parted to speak "Yes, I know what hubris is. Now you answer my question, who the hell are you?"

" **I've waited so long for this meeting, and given your past eight hundred failures, I had feared that this day would never come.** "

"What?" alarm bells began ringing in Issei's head once more, very few people were privy to knowledge about his past attempts "Who are you?"

" **Is it not obvious boy?"**

A dark, pale figure stepped out of the abyss, with bony fingers and chalky skin, dressed in a long black gown, with pure white hair yet possessing the youthful face of a man in his mid-twenties. The figure stretched its form, suddenly becoming less bony and more refined.

" **I am God."**

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

Kalawarner wondered what had possessed her to stay back, rather than fleeing as she was instructed to. Instead, she had stayed and watched, as Issei so easily dispatched the so called immortal, and with a bit of flamboyance as he did so.

It was amazing, and impressive, even if she did not want to admit it.

However, the problem came when he suddenly doubled over and fell. With the dome of energy encroaching on him, it was obvious that he would die.

There was still a small part of her that wanted to hate him, to let him get out of the predicament on his own, to see how powerful he truly was once he stood up and made his way to safety.

Three seconds passed, still no movement.

Five seconds. '

"He is not going to die after all this? He's far too stubborn to die." She told herself, deciding to wait a bit more.

Eight seconds.

Ten seconds.

On the eleventh second mark, Kalawarner swooped in as quickly as she could, her wings roaring as she found herself flying faster than she could ever remember in her entire existence.

The was able to reach him, carrying the unconscious body of the Red Dragon Emperor into her arms, with almost no time to spare as she felt the dome of energy brush against her back, making her let out a harsh scream of pain as not only was the back of all her clothing vaporized, the dome also significantly burnt her, covering her entire back with what resembled third-degree burns.

Still, she ignored it. She ignored the damage she was causing to herself in favor of flying as high and as fast as she possible could, with Issei in tow, right up until she was far above the sphere's range of influence.

No sooner had she escaped that range, did the entire world turn white.

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

" **I am God.** "

"Bullshit."

" **You do not believe my claim?** "

"God is dead." Issei said, as though it were the most known fact in the world "And you seem to be lacking in the whole 'godly aura' thing."

" **Ah yes, true –– quite true. Then I suppose calling myself 'God' was a misnomer; I am 'A God' not 'THE God'. Though quite frankly the arrogance of the Judeo-Christian religion to patent that name for their divinity is simply ridiculous––"**

"You're a god?" The Gamer rose an eyebrow "An actual god? Really?"

" **Do I not look the part?** "

"The whole chalk white skin and skinny, boney phalanges kind of implied otherwise."

" **Well –"** he said, to himself " **Well, well, well** " he turned around and shook his head in displeasure " **Well, I suppose I cannot fault you for your skepticism –– I cannot fault you indeed. If it were century ago all I had to do was summon fire and I would be revered as an almighty warlock, a millennia before that I could lift an object with my mind and be worshipped as a deity. But now ––"** he rose both hands in annoyance " **–– now that everyone and their grandmothers have powers, no one believes you if you tell them you're a god. No one I say!"**

"Who or what god are you?"

" **Who am I? Ah, it has been so long since I have had the pleasure of uttering out my name unto someone. So long, yes, very long."** the figure wafted through the empty space " **Who am I? That would of course imply a name, I had a name, or I believe, I used to have a name, or I-"**

"You're losing me here…" Issei said with a sweatdrop.

" **Yes, my name. It has been so long since I used it, so it seems–– it seems I may have forgotten it.** " The figure snapped it's fingers into the air " **Alas, names are a fundamental requirement for three dimensional beings in order to function on a proper social level ––"**

"The Point. Get. To. It."

" **Ah yes, for now, I believe you may refer to me as, Jashin."**

"Jashin?" Issei blinked, recognition flashing through his face "As in, Jashin of the cult of Jashin? The Jashin worshipped by that insane priest?"

" **The very same.** "

"All right, this conversation is done."

" **Now, now nownownownow –– Let's not be hasty Hyoudou!"**

"I don't think I have anything to say to a god whose followers brutally murder people in order to appease him." More of Hidan's memories were bleeding in, and Issei was getting sicker by the minute. The sheer number of atrocities that man had committed was just… too much. Any and all guilt about killing him was gone the minute he began seeing his memories.

" **Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!** **You Hyoudou, like many others have fallen sway to a millennia's worth of misconceptions."**

"Say what now?"

" **I am the Patron God of Instinct and Carnality. I am not some barbaric deity who only wishes to drink in the blood of pitiful mortals."**

"Careful there Jashin-sama, your followers would call that blasphemy."

" **The origins of my legend were written in a language so far lost to my followers, and as such, the only thing they gleamed from it was that they could gain power by killing others around them ––"**

"And they did."

" **My domain lays with sheer instinct and raw desires –– desires which can only be attained through means that society would deem immoral. My followers attained said power because, whether or not they realized it, they were completely overwhelmed by instinct."**

"So it's _instinct_ to murder thousands? Men? Women? Children?!"

" **Behind the sophisticated suits, the well-mannered demeanor, the cultured and ordered façade, the truth remains that humans are animals. Deep within yourselves, there is the desire to commit evil, to let go of your incommodious moral boundaries and submit to your basest urges."**

"That's not ––"

" **Spare me the idealistic drivel you were about to utter. You are far too intelligent for that, and both you and I know that if there were no laws or rules guiding humanity, no system of crime and punishment –– There would be anarchy. Survival of the fittest as that Fallen Angel once said."**

" **Those in the cult of Jashin committed vile atrocities, each and every day they shed what little they had of morality and they gained pleasure in their instincts and carnality. Hidan was among such, quite possibly, he was the most vicious of them all."**

Issei frowned, his hand running through his hair "You're not exactly making yourself sound decent. Why would I want to associate with you –– a god who fuels carnal desire?"'

" **Because murder alone isn't the only aspect of my domain!** "

"You mean –"

" **Yes, sex. Flesh smacking flesh, bountiful tits bouncing and other erotic pleasures! Lots and lots of bountiful, mind blowing sex. Such a shame that my followers had never realized that they could have attained immortality just from having sex, instead of committing mass murder. It'd have been much easier than the serial killing."**

"Odds are they'd have become serial rapists instead."

" **Ah – yes… that is quite true.** " The being shook it's head " **Nonetheless Hyoudou. All my followers have died out, and with you finally killing Hidan, I would vanish from this realm of existence – which is of course not on my to-do list."**

"Such a shame, I guess that list needs to be updated then?"

" **Oh come on boy! Can you not see a good thing when it hits you in the face? Become my Paragon in the world! With a strong and healthy Paragon like you I should be able to continue my stay here."**

Issei gave him a blank stare "Why in the world would I do that?"

" **Multiple reasons. Immortality rests at your fingertips, paranormal abilities which I shall grant unto you, and of course, let's not forget, information. Information and power."**

"What information?"

" **You see, due to the nature of my power, I am one of the only gods in existence who can exist and retain memories from multiple different timelines and alternate realities! Even alternate worlds! In several thousand other worlds, Hidan remains buried underground, and as such, I am a mere observer – but, I have collected and stored the memories of those world's versions of yourself."**

The Gamer's eyes widened "You're the reason I got that alert about downloading lost data?"

" **Bingo! You see my boy, these 'anomalies' are lodestones for dimensional interference. Any time you kill one, I can use them as a 'key' to unlock your memories from your past 'saved games'. This will allow you to regain and improve your abilities so quickly it's almost cheating.** "

The gamer was beginning to consider the idea.

" **Still doubtful? Even though knowing I can also use this 'key' to allow you absorb both the skills and abilities of every 'anomaly' you defeat, as I have done so far with Hidan.** "

Issei slowly bit his lower lip. The potential benefits of allying himself with Jashin were tremendous, it could help him get stronger even faster than he realized, and considering that the levels of certain anomalies like Alucard still read as a question mark meant that he was nowhere near the power of some of the figures in the world he intended to take down. He knew for a fact that had he tried to fight Kokabiel one-on-one without first weakening the being with his letter bomb trap, he would have lost, horrendously.

But then, the potential downsides were also an unknown variable. He would supposedly become more 'attuned' to his carnal instincts and desires, and though he still had the Gamer's Mind, it was already being stretched thin by the constant whispering of Darkness and the ever present rambling of Logic. If he added a third personality into his psyche, he wasn't sure if he would be able to retain his sanity.

He was almost expecting some sort of karmic decision rating to pop up again, but upon seeing none, he made his choice.

"Alright. I'll do it. I'll become your paragon."

" **Excellent! You've made the right choice – the right choice indeed!** "

"What does becoming your paragon entail? I don't have to go around preaching or anything?"

" **No, no, no. Nothing of the sort… let's just say, you'll represent my interests in various… endeavors. Now off with you! You've been here so long I fear you might miss the conclusion of your battle."**

"Wait, what?! I thought –"

" **You thought time would flow differently here? I'm afraid I do not have enough power to make such a feat possible yet. So… you've been communicating to me in real time."**

"You didn't think you could've told me this earlier?!"

" **Perhaps I could have, maybe next time you'll know better than to question a god on his divinity.** "

It was official, Jashin was _petty_.

" **Now, go deal with the aftermath of your little ploy… I do enjoy watching such drama unfold.** "

"Gah!"

" **Oh yes, yes, one more thing…"** Jashin said, suddenly becoming dead serious " **Do not mention my pact with you to anyone, much less the Sage Uzumaki, under any circumstances.** "

"That's a rather suspicious condition you know?"

" **Believe me when I say, when I say that this is more for your own good than mine. My legend isn't exactly the greatest… and it would not do for people to associate yourself with me."**

"Huh. I see."

" **Now then, I believe the most appropriately cliched phrase for this moment would be…"** Jashin said with a smirk **"Let the games begin."**

* * *

 _ **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~**_

 **Kuoh Academy**

"No."

Issei woke up to utter chaos.

"Nononononononono! SHIT! DAMNIT!"

The gamer pounded his fist into the pavement in anger and frustration, before he felt the familiar lull of the Gamer's mind calm down his negative emotions.

Somehow, someway, the explosion of power from Kokabiel and Sona had _ruptured_ his Instant Dungeon. That rupture was all that was needed to utterly tear it asunder, and of course, all that kinetic energy was released unto the real world – particularly, where he had opened the Instant Dungeon, Kuoh Academy.

The entire school had been reduced to rubble.

The entire school – which had been filled with students and staff alike, that Issei had cast a spell to make them all fall asleep, was nothing but rubble, and there was no doubt in his mind that innocent students were injured at best, and at worst, they had become the fatalities of his crusade.

Issei's gaze turned up, his eyes noting that three figures that had landed not too far away from him, and he almost wanted to reward their excellent timing with a sarcastic round of applause.

He had of course known they would come. He had written it in his letter to one of them, that he should summon the rest immediately. And as such, they stood, the respective leaders of the Three Factions.

 **The Crimson Lucifer**

 **Sirzechs "Lucifer" Gremory Lv. ?**

 **King of Archangels**

 **Michael Lv. ?**

 **Commander of the Fallen**

 **Azazel Lv. ?**

The trio stared, not at each other, not at the destroyed school or the potential loss of lives, but instead, their gazes fell upon a girl with black hair, as she stepped out of the rubble, out of the dust and smoke, and valiantly raised her hand displaying to the world her prize.

"It seems my sentence has been overturned."

And in the gutsiest thing Issei had ever seen in his life, she tossed the severed head of Kokabiel in front of the leaders of the Three Factions and walked away.

She made it all of three steps, before she fell over, unconscious.

 **Romance Quest Complete!**

 **To Love Thy Demons – Part 1!**

"Heh." The gamer let out a cheeky chuckle, before realizing that for some weird reason, he didn't have any strength left either. It seemed that breaking his Illusion Barrier had taken a significant chunk out of his overall magic levels, leaving the Gamer feeling drained for the first time in a long while.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the smiling face of a familiar blond sage.

"You did good kid."

 _Ping!_

 **Sequence Complete!**

 **Game Synchronization at 5%!**

 **Checkpoint Reached!**

 **Game Saved!**

"Welcome to the big leagues."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **And that's a wrap folks! Thank you for reading, but it's five A.M. and I've got to get some sleep. On the upside, I was tempted to split this into two chapters, but decided that I needed to wrap up this arc in one.**

 **I do honestly hope I succeeded in making Kokabiel go out like a badass... even though he still died in the end and let Sona take the most badass moments of the entire chapter. Ah, shame. Still, I'd prefer he died at the hands of an opponent who could give him a decent fight rather than like a wimp against Vali in Canon. And of course Dohnaseek dies as well... going out in a more subdued manner of guilt-filled introspection. Ah, shame.**

 **And now you all know why Hidan was introduced to this story- frankly I am not fond of his character either, but it did bring me author's poetic license to introduce a new recurring character, the god Jashin.**

 **Now, the next "Main" story arc won't start just yet, as the next few chapters are going to focus on the aftermath of the battle and how it affects everyone. There'll be some character development and Issei gets special moments with the girls... and we'll also see if Issei has a new alignment yet... and just how much that could possibly change.**

 **Kindly read and review, especially those of you loyal followers who enjoy in silence, I understand, but I urge you to do take a brief moment to tell me your sincerest feelings about this highly significant chapter and how you felt about the end of the arc. Thank you all, and Merry Holidays.**

 ** _Silent Songbird._**


	18. Intermission: Issei's Angels

_**A/N:**_ **This is probably one of the fastest updates I have ever done, probably because I suddenly became a slight insomniac - seriously, I now need special medication to be able to fall asleep. Alas, the reviews from last chapter were so motivating, I decided to get off my lazy ass and use my inability to sleep as an excuse to write. And special thanks goes to GrumpyGrue for his odd, comedic and somehow highly inspiring reviews!**

* * *

 **~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~**

 **Chapter 17:**

 **Intermission: Issei's Angels**

* * *

 **Two Days Later…**

 **Hyoudou Residence**

Issei sighed as he lazily propped himself up on his couch and flipped through the TV Screen.

" _The Question on everyone's minds remain, what was the reason for the Terrorist's attack on Kuoh Academy? Such a disastrous attack which led to the death of two teachers and one student, and over nineteen casualties-"_

Click.

" _The wanted Terrorist Freed Selzen is still at large for his suspected role in the bombing of Kuoh Academy. Authorities warn that this man is most likely armed and dangerous, and advice that citizens avoid straying out late and night, and should properly lock their doors and windows. Kuoh Police Commissioner Hajime Dazai had this to say-"_

Click.

" _Kuoh Academy has become subject to multiple investigations and queries after the bombing attack which took place a mere two days ago and led to three dead and over nineteen injured. The school has been temporarily shut down in order for investigation to take place, as well as for it to be properly rebuilt. The Principal and primary Chancellors of the once prestigious Academy were unavailable for comment-"_

Click.

" _Freed Selzen, the prime suspect in the Kuoh Academy Bombings is now also a wanted suspect for the attack on Neku Supermarket, which was previously and erroneously thought to have been an accidental pipeline explosion. Authorities urge citizens to immediately contact the local police station upon arriving at any information as to the whereabouts of this man-"_

Issei groaned as he switched off the TV. Everywhere he went, everything he heard; it was all focused on how the media was milking the destruction of Kuoh Academy for all it was worth. Of course it had been explained as a bombing – which, considering the damage, was an understandable misconception – but regardless, almost any and all students of Kuoh Academy had suddenly become celebrities overnight, constantly being hounded by the press for details.

Sickening.

Nonetheless, his parents had gone off to work, and with school shut down for the meanwhile, Issei had a significant amount of free time on his hands.

The weirdest thing about the whole scenario was that so many lives had apparently been saved by Freed… albeit indirectly, yet he was being hunted down for it.

The insane exorcist had broken out of the Occult Research Club, and of course, being the sick and twisted person he was, even with a _bullet wound_ through his knee, he had attempted to force himself on a female student that was unconscious due to Issei's  Sleep spell. Thankfully, she woke up and alerted everyone, breaking the Sleep spell, and thus sending the entire school into a mad search for the attempted rapist.

Of course there wasn't much ordinary humans could do against Freed to begin with, and on realizing that, there was a drill called and almost all the students had evacuated the school building, so the police could be called in to capture the dangerous man.

If it weren't for that tiny detail, the overall body count would have been _much_ worse once his Illusion Barrier failed and destroyed the entire school to the ground. Of course it was _still_ bad that three people had died as a result of his recklessness, but somehow, as _wrong_ as it sounded, his conscience could handle the deaths of just three people far better than it would be the deaths of hundreds.

He had already placed plans down in order to do the most he could for the families, loved ones and friends of the three people who had been died.

For now however, Issei was still focused on Freed. The Gamer doubted the man could go far with such an injury, and with him being wanted as he currently was, there was no way he was going to leave Kuoh without being caught on sight.

Issei wanted to attribute it all to dumb luck, but at the same time, if Freed wasn't the Chaotic Evil scumbag that he was, the man would have most likely died alongside with several hundred students.

Honestly, Issei didn't even want to discuss the morality of it all.

Speaking of morality, he had eventually gotten back his Karmic Rating for his choice on the mission. It was a close call, and Issei realized just how closely his actions were beginning to slide down the ever slippery slope of the moral compass.

 **You made a** **Karmic Choice** **! These are the choices that determine your alignment, and certain actions or deeds will shift your alignment accordingly.**

 **Choice: You decided to continue on with your plan of using Hidan while Sona went on a power-fueled rampage.**

 **Karmic Rating:-**

 **Lawful – [0.1%]**

 **Neutral – [7.0%]**

 **Chaotic – [93.9%]**

 **Alignment Rating:-**

 **Good – [0.0%]**

 **Neutral – [50.9%]**

 **Evil – [49.1%]**

 **Your Karmic Rating is: Chaotic Neutral!**

The Gamer sighed. He wasn't entirely sure as to what would have actually happened had he changed to Chaotic Evil, but he was certain that it wouldn't be good in the long run.

Speaking of his decisions with his bespectacled romantic interest, she had been taken to the underworld to face _questioning_ , and also would not be back for some time. Likewise, so had Rias.

He _could_ have gone with her, but there was a time and place for everything, and his presence at that moment would only serve to detract the spotlight from Sona, which was not what he had in mind.

Still, the rewards he gained from the completion of that quest were greatly useful to him.

 **Romance Quest Complete!**

 **To Love Thy Demons – Part 1**

 **She has been described as cold, mysterious, witty and intelligent. Nonetheless, she is the object of your affections – Sitri Sona, the heir to the Sitri Clan. All you have to do to win her heart, her soul and her body… is to win her the world. Her dreams are your dreams, and her enemies are your enemies.**

 **Primary Objectives** **:-**

 **Elevate Sitri Sona's Prestige via any Means Possible. Complete!**

 **Bonus Objectives** **:**

 **Glasses on, Glasses Off: Made Sona enter into a chaotic mode to fight. Complete!**

 **I'm Into You: Enter Sona's Shadow and Grant a Boost to her abilities. Complete!**

 **Grandmasters of Plot: Follow the plan exactly to the letter. Failed!**

 **Checkmate: Have Sona 'kill' Kokabiel. Complete!**

 **Rewards: Gained 40,000 EXP! Gained Romantic Partner: Sitri Sona! Unlocked Dating Mode! Gained skill: "Inveigle"! Gained +2000 Prestige! Gained Access to Sitri Clan Library! Gained Ability to Create or Contract Familiars! Unlocked New Outfit, Unlocked A New Operation for Umbra Sumus.**

 **Bonus Rewards: Gained 10,000 EXP per bonus objective! Gained Possible Threesome with ? and ?, Gained Weapons: Sword of the Sitri, Twin Daggers of the Water Devil! Gained a** **Water Affinity!** **Gained Skill:** **Dark Water Blade!**

 **You have unlocked an Affinity!**

 **Affinities Grant you the ability to manipulate the elements to your whims! The stronger your Affinity, the greater your control over that element!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **You have gained 30 Stat Points.**

Issei had looked over his new acquisitions, and the most intriguing of them all was the skill Inveigle and his Dating Mode.

 **Inveigle** **: Through artful flattery, you cast a spell upon your target that will make them trust your words and actions, and also make them believe that you are a life-long friend, confidant, or even lover, easily divulging their most sacred secrets to you without restraint, or becoming willing to do anything you ask.**

 **Requirement: Your combined Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma modifiers must be higher than or equal to that of your target. Alternatively, there is a higher chance of success if the target has been weakened by other psychological status effects.**

"So eventually I still get a skill that's similar to mind-control…" Issei said with a sigh.

 **Dating Mode:** **Congratulations! You have unlocked Dating Mode! This enables when you are in a prospective situation with a potential female love interest! Dating Mode enables you to study the emotional thermometer of females, knowing just how well the date or event is going, and just how much of in the 'mood' she is! The Emotion Thermometer starts out from [Red], meaning the date is going badly and she is not feeling it, to [Orange], which means that you've piqued her interest, to [Yellow], which indicates that things are improving and she is starting to get interested, to [Green], which highlights that date is going great and she's in the mood, to hot steaming [Pink], which will tell you that the date is amazing and she's stimulated enough for something lucky to happen!**

 **Note: Certain Skills, Perks, Titles, Achievements and Abilities affect this mode.**

 **Dragon's Aura** **: Dragons permeate a certain aura which females find irresistible! With this, Dating Mode always starts out at either [Orange] or [Yellow] and has an improved and more prominent effect.**

 **Winchester's Descendant** **: Improved Relations with all Supernatural Females, granting a boosted x4 increase in effectiveness of Dragon's Aura and Dating Mode.**

 **Paragon of Jashin** **: Upon reaching [Pink] on the emotional thermometer, this grants a 25% Chance for the target to become driven by their lust, and follow whatever forbidden sexual desire they possess.**

 **Reluctant Gentleman** **: Equipping this Title while using Dating Mode generates a x2 Increase to Dating Mode's effectiveness.**

 **Gutsy Pervert/Perverted Sage/Perversion Potential** **: Accidently entrapping yourself in a perverted social situation grants a 45% chance of instantly boosting the Emotional Thermometer to [Pink] and unfolding a steamy hot encounter!**

 **Inveigle** **: Using this skill on a target already under dating mode can lead to the target falling under a blind haze of unquenchable lust and passion.**

 **WARNING! Due to the unlimited potential of Dating Mode, and its ability to be further boosted by certain features, it is** _ **advised**_ **to keep it turned off unless when needed. Otherwise, this may lead to being mobbed by a horde of aroused women who may easily fall prey to its staggering effects.**

"This… sounds way too much like one of those Eroges Matsuda likes to play so much… since when did my life become a H-Game?"

 _The better question is, why are you complaining?_

Issei blinked. Slowly. He could've sworn he had heard an utterly new voice in his head.

 _Ding! Ding! Give the smart boy a cookie._

"Great. Just great, that's what I needed, more voices in my head."

 _Oh don't worry, I'm not going to be cliché and try to tempt you or corrupt you or crap like that, that's so eighties movies._

"Okay…?"

 _All I'm going to do is take a hold of all your suppressed desires, until it fills up to a maximum point where it's unleashed, and then I'll take possession of your body and go for an awesome joyride._

"Like hell I'm going to let you do that!"

 _I'm not going to do anything – like Jashin said, he can't make people do things that they themselves have not considered doing once or twice. Lucky for you, you've rarely considered killing anyone… so no murder. Oh, but I'm going to have so much fun with all the kinky debauchery._

"You're joking."

 _I am the embodiment of all your suppressed carnal desires given consciousness – and boy are they a lot! Regardless, refer to me Carnality, as it is fitting, and do believe me, I rarely ever joke._

Issei groaned as he slammed his head into his couch, finding recent developments more annoying than it was worth.

 _Ping!_

 **Gained Secret Perk!**

 **Paragon of Jashin:** **Due to accepting an offer from a primeval pagan god (yeah, because that** _ **always**_ **ends well) you have become the living representation of Carnal Desire and Instinct. This grants you the ability to instantly gleam out the secret desires, motivations, dreams, hopes, aspirations, fears and cravings of people, as well as to either fuel or suppress that desire and remove inhibitions from the minds of others. HP, MP, LM/DM and Chakra are fully restored and both you and your partner(s) gain a permanent +15 to all stats when performing any acts or actions of carnal pleasure. You are also connected deeply to Instinct, gaining animalistic instincts which enhance your sense of smell, touch, taste and hearing – bringing them out to levels far above that of most humans.**

 **Also unlocks the Skill Tree:** **Jashinist Techniques** **Lv. Max.**

Though if Issei was being honest, the comparative trade-off for the power gained from Jashin was actually worth the stupidity of accepting the deal from the god in the first place. So not only did he gain stat increases from doing… stuff, whoever he did it with would also gain stat increases. So any girl who had kinky sex with him would get stronger. Coupled with the fact that he could now absorb not just the power of every anomaly he fought, but also their skills and techniques, the potential benefits of the perk seemed to heavily outweigh the negatives.

Thanks to said perk, his Scythe Mastery had jumped to Level 46, as well as why he had gained new jutsu such as Substitution Lv. 34, Clone Lv. 20, Transformation Lv. 40 and Body Flicker Lv. 39. Or as they were better known, Karawimi, Bunshin, Henge and Shunshin.

He had also gained Hidan's possessed blood controlling technique, but there was no way he was going to use it when he wasn't immortal. Or had some sort of regeneration ability.

Speaking of which, Issei realized he hadn't even examined his new stats.

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 35 [49.05%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 3080/3080**

 **MP: 4275/4275 [Chakra: 3250/3250] [LM/DM: 2135/2135]**

 **Strength: 121**

 **Vitality: 154**

 **Dexterity: 135**

 **Intelligence: 171(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 74 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 17 (+1)(+3)(+71.7)**

 **Charisma: 45 (-1)(+1)(+1.7)(+2)(+3)**

 **Stat Points: 130**

 **Perk Points: 6**

 **Prestige Points: 7,815**

No sooner had he opened his status menu did he receive a new notification.

 **Congratulations! Through some unbelievable stroke of luck, you are no longer considered a scrawny, flabby, unhealthy teenager!**

 **You have gained 100 points in the Vitality Stat!**

 **You have gained 150 points in the Vitality Stat!**

 **You have gained 100 points in the Strength Stat!**

 **You have gained 100 points in the Dexterity Stat!**

 **Your newfound vigorous prowess has provided you with a new passive ability!**

 **Steel Skin [Passive] Lv. Max:** **This provides an invisible, epidermal layer of bio-electric energy which covers your entire body, granting you a 90% physical damage resistance and literally grants your skin the durability of steel! Impress your friends by stabbing your hand with a knife and watching the knife break!**

 **Note: This** _ **literally**_ **grants your skin the durability of masterwork forged steel. So any force capable of bending or breaking such steel will also be capable of damaging you.**

 **Your new found muscular prowess has provided you with a new perk!**

 **The Pugilist:** **Thanks to your enhanced strength, you know just how to use that power to make the most out of all your hits. Grants 45% Damage Increase to All Blunt Attacks.**

 **Your newfound dexterous prowess has provided you with a new perk!**

 **Assassin's Grace:** **Your movements are deft, fine-tuned and exact. You do not waste motion, you do not waste purpose, and clumsiness is but a myth to you. Grants Enhanced Reflexes and Faster-Than-Thought Reaction Times in which your perception of time is slowed to a crawl in order to respond to threats.**

 **Note: This Perk stacks effects with another Perk, [Gutsy Pervert] and now allows all your slip-ups which lead to a perverted scenario to be graceful as possible. Feel proud, for you can still shamelessly fall face first into a girl's panties, but you will now do so with flair.**

Issei stared at the wall of text, his left eye twitching in annoyance at how Assassin's Grace mockingly pointed out that even though his movements would be exact and graceful, it wouldn't stop the perverted slip-ups from happening, if anything the odds were that it just made it worse. Still, Assassin's Grace would be deadly when combined with Accelerated Thought Process, as it would finally help him solve his problem of being too slow to respond to threats he already knew where heading his way.

He had over a hundred and thirty stat points, but Issei wasn't exactly eager to spend it on anything yet. Almost all his stats could be increased from alternative means, so for now, he was 'hoarding' his stat points to use them in case of an emergency.

As for the Perk Points, the Gamer didn't feel the need to check whatever new perks were available. For now. There was something called having _too much_ of a good thing.

Still… Issei was in a slump. He knew that he still had so much to do, there were still ten anomalies left, and of course he also had to take down the likes of the Great Red and Death… he was supposed to be using every moment to train and grind so he could take them out… but the teen was just too mentally exhausted to jump straight back into the action.

He had, in an extremely short span, discovered the truth of his existence, travelled through time, met Death, and conspired to take down one of the most powerful Fallen Angels in the world.

He needed a break, for a short while at the very least, which was why for the last two days he had simply taken to sleeping at home because he felt he deserved some goddamned rest.

Rias' peerage and Sona's peerage must have also had similar ideas, as Issei hadn't heard from Tsubasa for the past two days, most likely she was also taking some off time.

As for the Fallen Angels, he knew for a fact though that Raynare was still spying on Azazel, and he had secretly lodged Kalawarner and Mittelt into the same hotel room with Asia. There was a part of him that felt it was highly ill-advised to have those two rather eccentric Fallen Angels stay in the same room with the shy and innocent Asia Argento. Or more specifically, he was worried that Mittelt would do something to Asia… but at the very least, he knew that Kalawarner had a decent enough head on her shoulders to keep the Loli in line.

Speaking of Kalawarner, he needed to do something nice for the Fallen Angel. According to what The Gamer had been able to gleam from Mittelt, he would certainly be dead or worse if it hadn't been for Kalawarner's timely intervention to save his life, at the cost of her injury.

Asia's Twilight Healing had tried to help cure the pain, but to everyone's surprise, the wound wasn't easily healed, and Asia had ran out of magical energy while trying to heal her. It was partly due to the fact that the damage caused had been on a _cellular_ level, and Asia wasn't adept enough at utilizing her sacred gear to heal such damage easily.

His Kami's Fingers skill _should_ be able to aid in the healing process though.

"Alright… I think I've done enough lazing around for now." Issei jumped to his feet, craning his neck and stretching, to hear the sweet satisfaction of popping bones.

"Equip Clothing: Casual Set." In a brief flash, Issei went from being clad in his boxers and a slacking V-neck T-Shirt to being fully dressed in a casual outfit of a darkish-grey T-Shirt with a flaming dragon design on the front, a black LED digital wristwatch on his left hand, a pair of skinny black jeans and dark colored canvas.

"Well, that's odd…"

The shirt was almost skin-tight, and Issei's new toned and muscled body was visible through it. He didn't have the overly buff physique of a body-builder, nor was he by any means overly muscled, but he still had enough for it to be slightly visible on his biceps and for the firm outline of abs to show on his stomach.

"Equip: Dark Short Jacket."

A shorter version of his famous dark jacket appeared on him, and Issei folded the sleeves to three-quarter of his arm's length, and he nodded in appreciation at the outfit.

With that in mind, Issei sunk into the shadows with "Shadow Step" and prepared himself for Fast Travel.

It was time to get things moving again.

* * *

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

 **Underworld**

 **Sitri Territory**

"You may leave."

"Are you certain Sitri-sama?"

"Are you implying that you believe I am not capable of washing myself?"

"O-of course not Sitri-sama! I just wished to help-"

"I appreciate the notion, but your assistance is neither required nor desired. And as I said – You may leave."

"Of course."

Sona let out a sigh as the handmaiden left the extra-large personal bathroom that was bigger than her entire house back in the human world. She didn't intend to be so mean, nor did she intend to be rude to anyone, but almost _everyone_ around her had been walking on eggshells or trying to find some way to win her favor ever since word got out that she had killed Kokabiel.

Whereas before she was overlooked in favor of the more beautiful and sensual Rias, her parents had suddenly received a massive influx of letters from various houses wishing to form marriage contracts.

She had, in their presence, proceeded to create a sword of water and slashed them all up into pieces.

If her parents had been offended or opposed to her actions, they did not voice their opinions.

It was clear that Issei's plan had worked a little _too_ well. And she could not blame him. There was, after all, a very thin line between respect and fear, and as it was now, she was both feared and respected by devils in the Underworld, and her actions had caused quite the stir. There was already speculation that she would take over her sister's place as the Leviathan and let Serafall become the Sitri Clan heir instead.

Rumors had spread and mixed with the facts, and there were tales of how she had single-handedly took out Kokabiel and an army of a thousand Fallen Angels and Cerebrus. Others said that she had seduced Kokabiel with her beauty and then slit his throat while he was pre-occupied. Those few tales that managed to mention Issei's presence had been inflated into saying that she had ensorcelled the Red Dragon Emperor into becoming her lover and then they had defeated Kokabiel together.

Ridiculous. Utterly and completely ridiculous.

Regardless, as the tales and variations of her defeat of Kokabiel and her potential prevention of another outbreak of a Holy War had spread, it was clear that she had become a notable figure in the Underworld.

It was… shocking. Less than three days ago, when Issei had broken into her house and lay naked with her, she had taken him for some sort of delusional idealist, she had gone along with his plan even though she held doubt in her mind about his ability to bring it to fruition.

Now, she was living it.

Her thoughts of the Red Dragon Emperor where however still conflicted, she wasn't sure what she _felt_ for him, and even though they were now supposedly dating… she wasn't exactly content with the idea that he would attain a harem.

He had explained his reasoning, and she understood, but, a part of her just didn't want to share him with anyone else. She wanted him to take her, hold her, and caress her, to be with her and _only_ her.

She buried her face under the water to hide the redness that had taken over it. What was she thinking? She had so much responsibilities and so much to do now that she had begun attaining her dreams, she couldn't afford to be distracted by falling into some sort of teenage romantic drama.

First, she had to be present for the official formal meeting that would take place in ten days' time, which would decide whether or not there would be any form of retaliation from the Fallen Angel faction, and then the same meeting would seek to discuss an alliance with all three factions to prevent events like the one with Kokabiel from happening again… and at the same time, that meeting would discuss the ongoing threat of the Greek Faction as they had begun viciously attacking and killing vampires.

Then there was also the fact that she was to become the leader of the Sitri Clan. She intended to lead her peerage to become the greatest Rating Game champions, and then, she would eventually attain her dream of building a Rating Game school that was open to all, regardless of their status, race or gender.

There was always the possibility of a full blown war breaking out, so it clearly wasn't the time to pollute her mind with such feelings over a teenage boy.

Though… it was through the efforts said teenage boy that she could even start thinking of attaining her dreams.

Sona let her right hand go over to her chest, right over her left breast, where she could still feel the warmth of Issei's touch. She slowly caressed it, remembering the intense gaze of the teen, and ever so slightly, her left hand loitered down, slowly trailing against her thigh, remembering the feeling of her waist grinding against Issei's own. Her right hand traced over her breast, softly remembering how Issei had smelt of burnt dust, how her body had been drenched, her right hand delicately wandered lower, until it reached a certain sensitive spot, where she recalled Issei's crotch had been pressed so very closely against –

Sona emerged from the water taking a huge gulp of air. She spat out some water from her lungs as she fought to ignore the sheer amount of heat she could feel all over her face.

' _Ludicrous. Was I just about to… to touch myself while thinking of Hyoudou-kun?'_

The heiress of the Sitri Clan cupped her face in embarrassment, glad that she had sent the handmaiden out, for she would have died of mortification if anyone saw her in such a state. She had never had any form of attraction to any male before, neither of the romantic or sexual kind. This did not mean she was naïve though, she had on more than one occasion listened to Rias complain about finding Akeno pleasuring herself, and Sona had on one occasion caught her sister masturbating.

She just never thought that _Hyoudou Issei_ of all people would tempt her to almost do the same.

Maybe when she got back to the human realm…

Maybe she would…

The Sitri heiress abruptly stood out of the bath. She needed to find something to occupy her thoughts, hopefully it would prevent any such ridiculous thoughts from popping into her mind and before she actually started pleasuring herself in the bathroom.

The idea of sex with Issei was… a little _too_ stimulating.

* * *

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

 **Kuoh**

 **Rising Sun Hotel**

It was slightly too much to ask to find a little bit of normalcy in his everyday life, but of course he hadn't been expecting to stumble upon such an awkward scenario.

He had appeared in the room, crawling out of Asia's shadow as he noted that the girl was rather… pre-occupied.

Asia was on the floor, her face a brilliant dazzling red, as she was wearing a plain t-shirt and bra along a pair of pink panties that was being pulled on by the only other blonde in the room. Mittelt on the other hand, seemed to have no definition of such modesty, as the Fallen Angel was wearing nothing but a very transparent, short, black silk gown which ended just slightly above her crotch along with a pair of long, transparent stockings and lacy black and white panties. Issei's Perfect Vision made out the forms of both girls but for some odd reason his gaze lingered more on Mittelt. The girl's frilly hair was let down in a river-flowing manner, and it was far longer than Issei expected, reaching all the way past her waist and surprisingly giving her an utterly different look from what The Gamer was used to. That, and added to her clearly erect nipples that poked through the fabric of her short thin black gown, the thigh-length stockings which added extra allure, and her facial expression that was in a state of lust… the gamer had to pull out all his mental stops to detract his gaze away from her.

 _Reign in those teenage hormones Issei, unless of course you intend to hide a massive boner for the next couple of hours,_ Carnality teased. _Knowing that girl as she is, once she feels you're interested in her… you're in for a wild ride._

Issei turned his gaze back to the only other Fallen Angel in the room, and spotted Kalawarner. The taller being was sitting on the bed, clothed in nothing but bandage wrappings, and what Issei assumed was one of Asia's underwear due to how tightly fitted it was, her gaze was one of irritation and as she tried to glue her eyes to the TV Screen provided in the large hotel room. Issei had made sure to spare no expense, the room that the trio were in having being fully equipped with a large flat screen TV, a decently stocked fridge, a bar, a small kitchen/dining area, a large, double-bed and of course an excellent view of all of Kuoh.

 **Witnessed a Perverted Situation!**

 **Gained +3 Strength, +3 Vitality!**

"Issei-san!" The Asia squealed upon noticing the Gamer's presence, and Issei blinked in surprise when she quickly engaged him in a tight hug, before turning around and hiding behind him, clearly to evade the clutches of Mittelt.

Issei rubbed the bridge of his nose, slowly. "Mittelt, please tell me you weren't just about to molest Asia."

"I can't help it Ise-kun," the small fallen Angel said, truncating his name as she sighed into her hands "Asia-chan is so cute! She turns me on just by being so cute! I can't even imagine how much cuter she'd look when about to climax~!"

"E-eep!"

Issei couldn't stop the image of Asia panting hard, sweaty, rubbing her thighs and bucking her hips that came into his mind, and it was quickly followed with the mental image of Mittelt using her tongue to do _interesting_ things to the nun, while Issei approached her from behind and –

' _What in the world am I thinking?'_

 _Which do you think would make the better title?_ Carnality asked slyly. _Lucky pervert bangs two hot blondes, or Rugged teen enjoys taboo threesome?_

' _You're the one doing inputting these images in my head aren't you?!'_

 _I'm not doing anything. You're just more attuned with your sexual desires, and considering you've spent sixteen years either ignoring or bottling them up…_ Carnality trailed off, leaving Issei to fill in the blanks.

"I-I c-can't do such things with you Mittelt-sama," Asia said, peeking out from behind Issei "I-I'm a lady of the cloth! I can't partake of s-such a-acts!"

"You mean you _were_ a lady of the cloth," Mittelt said with a haughty scoff and a slight amount of anger "You were excommunicated remember? You're no different from a rogue exorcist."

"E-even so! I-it's wrong!"

"You're preaching to the choir Asia-chan. I know what we're doing is wrong, because I was an _Angel_ ," Mittelt said "I just _don't_ _care_ about it being wrong. If anything, it being wrong is what makes it _much_ more enjoyable!"

"I-I'm saving myself for s-someone s-special!"

" _I'm_ someone special! And once I'm done, every part of you will be _very_ special too…!"

Issei glanced at the back and forth exchange between the two, shaking his head as he gazed at Kalawarner who was flipping through TV channels.

"You're not going to do anything about this?"

"There is a substantial difference between being a protector and being a babysitter, Hyoudou Issei." Kalawarner said, "If Mittelt wishes to engage in more foolish sexual debauchery, and the ex-nun is too soft-spoken to make her rebuttal clear, whatever happens onwards is not worthy of my concern."

Issei sweatdropped at the lengthy way Kalawarner indicated that she just didn't care. It was understandable considering that she was still injured, and most probably was still getting over Kokabiel's death. Still, Issei let out a small smile at Asia. The nun was so cute, in that little-sister kind of way, and she brought out a protective instinct Issei didn't even know he had. She had that innocent appeal about her that was adorable.

Darkness snorted. _She wouldn't last five seconds on her own out in the real world._

' _Darkness, if you make any other snide remark about Asia, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you._ '

 _Oh, I would very much so love to see that happen._ Carnality said with cackling glee. _Should I add this to your list of suppressed desires? The wish to kill darkness?_

 _What torture to be confined to the same space as a psychopath with superiority-inferiority complex on top a narcissistic personality disorder, and an incarnate of depravity and decadence with a desire to hump anything in a skirt._ Logic said.

' _Will all of you shut the fuck up?!'_

The Gamer's attention was brought back to Asia as he felt the girl genuinely tighten her hold around him.

"Issei-san… can you please make Mittelt-sama stop…"

Issei's eyes widened.

"Alright Mittelt, that's enough. You're beginning to genuinely scare Asia."

"What? Come on Ise-kun! I'm not asking for much, I just want to make both of us feel _real_ good."

"I said _stop_." Issei said, his voice brokering no room for argument "There's a thin line between aggressive teasing and sexual assault."

"Tch!" Mittelt scowled, her eyebrows furrowing as she let out a snarl "Who said I was teasing? If you hadn't arrived here, she'd be enjoying the epic ministrations of my fingers and tongue – having the time of her life!"

" _Mittelt._ I won't warn you again. _Stop_."

"Make me pretty-boy!"

Mittelt actually lunged at him, and Issei saw the being's attack in extremely slow motion. The Gamer knew that the Loli fallen angel was more or less a toned down female version of Freed Selzen, but he hadn't been expecting this much animosity over what was formally jovial matter.

Assasin's Grace kicked in and Issei smoothly intercepted the airborne blonde in a rapid judo take down, grabbing her by the arm and flipping her onto the smoothly rugged floor, but ensuring not to put too much force into his counter.

"Alright, you and I need to talk."

Utilizing Body Flicker for the first time, Issei reappeared inside the room's large spacious bathroom with the blonde fallen angel, before he turned around and locked the door.

His gaze turned back to Mittelt, the blonde shaking her head to eliminate the sudden dizziness of the side-along shunshin.

"What's your deal?"

"Sonuva bitch," Mittelt swore "Damn it Ise-kun! You're good looking and I have the hots for you… but you're really pissing me off!" A bow and arrow of light appeared in her hands as she aimed it at the Gamer.

"So you want us to settle this with our powers then?" Issei asked "Fine. Shadow Bind."

"This is-!"

Issei blinked, well _that_ was new and definitely not his intention when he used the skill. Mittelt's own shadow and risen from the ground, taking corporeal form as it tied her up.

"Ise-kun I-I d-didn't know y-you h-had this in y-you~!"

It was _how_ it tied her up that was the kicker. Instead of being in the usual hogtied manner, the shadows had engaged in some form of complicated shibari-style technique that was eerily reminiscent of rope bondage or kinbaku. Tendrils of shadows tied around the base of her breasts, causing the normally petite looking breasts to bulge outward and making them doubly visible through the transparent silk fabric she wore. The thin shadow like strand wrapped around both breasts, then wrapped around both nipples through the thin silk fabric and then joined them at the back to form a sort of bra.

"A-alright y-you've m-made you're point! S-stop!"

The shadow continued onwards, passing over the shoulders and twisting and turning across Mittelt's arms, forcing them harshly behind her back in what was known as the reverse-prayer position. The shadow tendril's didn't stop there, they spread open the Angel's legs, ripping her stockings in various places before binding her ankles to her thigh in what was known as the frogtie position.

"I-Issei, p-please" she said in between pants and gasps "N-no m-more!"

The coup de grace of the make-shift bondage was focused around her crotch, as a particularly thin tendril wrapped itself around the fallen angel's waist before pressing against her underwear and between her womanly parts – _her labia_ , if he wanted to be specific – in some form of erotic wedgie as Mittelt's face had heated up, and her moans began slowly coming out faster and more frequently.

"I-Issei-kun… I-I c-can't t-take a-anymore~!"

Then all at once, the shadow tendrils _constricted._

Contrary to what Issei expected, Mittelt was _not_ a screamer. The Fallen Angel had to bite down harshly on her lower lip to as her toes curled and her entire body arched, and shuddered for _thirty_ straight seconds. Once she was done, she let herself be hung limply by the shadows as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

The sound of liquids dripping unto the bathroom floor was almost deafening.

 **Perverted Situation!**

 **Gained +5 Strength, +5 Vitality, +5 Dexterity!**

 **Act of Carnal Pleasure!**

 **Gained +15 Strength, +15 Vitality, +15 Dexterity, + 15 Intelligence, +15 Wisdom, +15 Charisma and +15 Luck!**

Issei stood still for several seconds, his eyes never leaving Mittelt's spread legs and the clearly damp patch that had formed around her underwear, along with the liquids that were slowly trailing down her thighs, before he realized that staring at the afterglow of someone's euphoric release was wrong and creepy, even for him.

He couldn't help it though, this scenario was just a thousand times more erotic than anything he had experienced before, even counting his brief encounter with Raynare.

He finally found himself able to cancel the Shadow Bind as he caught Mittelt in a bridal style carry, noting that the girl was still shuddering ever so slightly.

 _She passed out after just once? Looks like she's all talk after all. Little Angel can dish it out, but she can't take it._ The voice of Carnality had remarked, and it was the voice which was slowly beginning to annoy Issei the most.

' _Were you… were you the one who made my technique do…_ that?'

 _You're welcome._

' _What the hell? I thought you said you couldn't make me do anything I didn't want to do!'_

 _And I didn't. All I did was collaborate with Darkness to tweak certain of your skill sets. And don't be a hypocrite, you could have cut off the technique the second it started, instead you chose to let it play out. You enjoyed it, and don't bother denying it._

Well of course he enjoyed the scene; what straight hot-blooded male wouldn't? Much less a hormone driven teenager? It had always been one of his fantasies, but he never _expected_ it to actually happen!

 _I am a part of you Issei. A part of you that you can't ignore. If accepting me means bringing pleasure and joy to yourself and those around you, what do you think constantly rejecting me entails?_

Issei debated it over. He had been trying to suppress carnality because he thought that it'd make him go out of control and start abusing his powers just so he could have sex with women. He had been suppressing the darker aspects of his perverted desires because he did not wish to hurt anyone, much less himself.

But he knew better than anyone that he could only bottle up hidden feelings for so long before everything popped.

"Hmm… Ise-kun?" Mittelt stirred slightly in his arms, surprising the Gamer as to how quickly she had woken up.

"I'm sorry about –"

"Shhhhh!" she shushed him, placing a finger on his lips "Less talking, more sexing. I'm still wet, but be gentle with me Ise-kun,"

The Gamer sweatdropped.

"I'm not having sex with you."

"You're not?" she seemed disappointed "That's a shame then."

Issei shook his head at the extremely self-contradictory nature of the Fallen Angel in front of him. She appeared to enjoy teasing people about sex and acted like a sexual deviant, but when it came down to the act itself she was surprisingly subdued about the whole thing. She was one of the most confusing people Issei had ever known.

It also made Issei wonder about how she was as an angel, and why she had fallen from heaven in the first place.

A thought sprung up to Issei's mind, pitched by Logic, and Issei didn't want to believe it, but it made sense. Her openly sexual behavior, yet meekness in actualizing the deed. Her manner of referring to everyone with affectionate childish nicknames. Her fighting style which ensured she stayed as far away from close-combat as possible. Her rumored hatred of pedophiles and her practice of luring them in before viciously murdering them. Her "I-don't-give-a-damn" attitude and apathy for human life… yet, he had heard how angry and passionate she had been when telling Dohnaseek that he'd been kicked out of heaven for his own stupidity. Then there was her admission of doing things _because_ they felt wrong and it made her feel better…

Alone, they made no sense, and could be seen as just random quirks or behaviors.

Put together, they formed a rather disconcerting idea that Issei hoped was just him overanalyzing everything and none of it was true.

"Mittelt,"

"Hmm? Changed your mind Ise-kun? Or maybe you would like to try using the other hole?"

"How did you become a Fallen Angel?"

The girl stiffened in his arm, and all at once it seemed that she came down from her orgasmic high, as her body language almost screamed 'defensive'.

"You really know how to ruin the mood Ise-kun."

"Were you –" Issei made a gesture with his fingers.

"You're too smart for your own good; it's almost scary." The smaller fallen angel left his arms, shakily standing on her feet. She stretched, before sighing at her torn stockings, doing anything to avoid gazing into Issei's eyes.

"It doesn't matter. It's in the past, I've had several hundred years to get over it."

"I'm sor-"

" _Don't,_ " she said, "Don't you dare pity me. I don't _need_ your pity. I don't _want_ your pity."

Issei nodded. Slowly.

"Was he caught, the person?"

"Fat chance. It was a _god_. One that had a penchant for capturing and toying with 'young looking' females of various races _just because he could_."

Chalky white skin and bony phalanges flashed in Issei's mind, but the Gamer shook it off. Jashin shouldn't have been active in the world as of that time… right?

"Once he saw that my wings had turned black he released me like I was _garbage_. I tried to go back to heaven, but I couldn't. It didn't matter that I'd been captured by a god. Nor did it matter that it was against my own will. I had been _tainted_ , I had become _impure_. And that was it."

The more Issei heard about the church and heaven and their rather "Lawful Neutral" way of doing things, the more his opinion of it dropped. Weren't they supposed to be on the side of good? Weren't they supposed to be the loving, caring, and most affectionate of the factions? So why was there so much _injustice?_

"But you know what? I don't care."

She took off her drenched panties in one motion and tossed them aside before she straddled her naked groin against Issei's crotch, a sly smile forming on her face.

"Fuck Michael, fuck Gabriel, fuck Raphael, fuck heaven. Fuck it all. Fuck them all. If I was still there I'd be some form of robot without my own thoughts and desires. I'm free to do what I please, and that's all that matters."

 _And that's all that matters_.

Issei exhaled. Allowing a small smile to morph unto his face, as he embraced the blonde fallen angel in a hug.

"W-what are you doing Ise-kun? Don't get all s-sappy on me now damn it! It's a real t-turnoff!"

She blushed, actually blushed in embarrassment for the first time, as her words and actions were in contradiction to each other, and the gamer merely chuckled at her.

"Whatever you say Ero-Tenshi."

"Ero-Tenshi?" she said, placing a finger on her chin for evaluation "I kinda like the sound of that."

"Come on, let's go see what Asia and Kalawarner are up to."

"But Ise-kun you haven't put it in yet!" The Fallen Angel licked her lips and grinded her naked, wet womanhood on his boner "I can feel how hard you are! You must be suffering from the worst case of blue balls if you're just sitting through even getting to release. You sure you don't want to jack off first? I can help you out with that~!"

"Jack… off?"

"You know? Beating your meat, choking your chicken?" she said "Masturbating?"

"I know what it means," Issei deadpanned "I've just never done it before."

"You've never-!" she looked at him as though he as an alien "You've never masturbated? Not _even_ once?"

"Uh… no?"

"How old are you again?"

"Sixteen, I'll be seventeen in a few months."

Mittelt shook her head in an almost pitying gaze "You're almost seventeen and you've never done it?" Then her eyes widened "So that means you've got at least three or four years' worth of sticky white s-"

There was a loud, rapid knocking on the door and both teenager and Fallen Angel turned to it, with Issei commanding a shadow tendril to unlock it, ignoring Mittelt's slight shiver of pleasure upon seeing a moving shadow.

Kalawarner stood at it, opening the door with what was clearly an annoyed gaze "I felt it was pertinent to remind both of you of the overwhelming fact that bathrooms were never architecturally designed to be soundproof."

Both figures had the decency to look sheepish at the reminder.

"How much did you hear?"

"Should I begin from when Mittelt declared she had the 'hots' for you, or after she told you to 'be gentle'?"

So pretty much _everything_.

"And Asia?"

"I asked her to continue healing my back, and coupled with the loss of energy from using her Sacred Gear and overhearing Mittelt's rather indecent noises, she passed out quite a while ago."

The trio walked out of the bathroom to find Asia in sleeping in the fetal position, and Issei simply let out a brief chuckle.

"I believe, some of this is required." Kalawarner had briefly opened the bar and brought out three glasses along with a bottle of wine that looked far too fancy for Issei's tastes.

She poured the liquid into each glass, with Issei giving her an odd look "I'm underage. I shouldn't be drinking."

Mittelt shoved the glass into his hands with a snort "You shouldn't be plotting to kill Cadre Class Fallen Angels either, but you did so anyway."

"Let us have a toast then, to commemorate your first drink." Kalawarner said.

"To sex!" Mittelt raised her glass, before downing the alcoholic liquid in one shot.

"…To Kokabiel-sama."

"To Kalawarner and Mittelt."

The two fallen angels in the room regarded him oddly as he ignored the burning feeling at the back of his throat and the bitter stinging in his eyes from his first time consuming alcohol.

"Why're you toasting us Ise-kun?"

The Gamer smiled. "It's a secret."

"Aw! No fair! Come on! I'll let you grope Kal-chan's boobs if you tell us!"

"Hmm… that is a good offer."

"What? Why are you bargaining with my body?!"

"It's not like you wouldn't enjoy it… I'm sure you wished you could have felt the pleasure Ise-kun made me feel today~!" Mittelt said with a sigh before snapping her fingers "I know! Let's have a threesome! Come on Kal-chan! Let's grope those babies!"

"U-unhand my breasts you second-rate nymphomaniac! I will not indulge in such depravity!"

"Come on Kal-chan! Three-some! Three-some! Three-some!"

Issei let out a bark of laughter as he watched the odd duo interact.

The Gamer wouldn't tell them his reasons of course. One who stood alone but never strayed from her ideal, undergoing the agony of unrequited love, and one, who had been hurt so deeply, she had turned her scars and pain into her armor.

They were two of the strongest people he had ever met.

It was events like these that helped him make sense of his chaotic life. To be able to enjoy the moments that he was living for, with the people he could die for.

Perhaps, truly… that was all that mattered.

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **Ah, some fanservice. Who doesn't love fanservice? I know I do. And I know it's the reason most people watch DxD in the first place... no matter how much they tell you they're in it for the plot.**

 **Of course this can't really be considered fan service seeing as how it adds to the plot though. That aside,** **I got back into watching/reading To Love Ru Darkness and so many ecchi scenes from that anime/manga just sparked my muse and made me say - hey, why not put a bunch of relaxing steamy hot lemony chapters before heading back to the action?**

 **Yes, "a bunch".**

 **Anyway, with this, Issei's Angels are complete! And I kid you not, as Issei's Angels will be recurring characters in this story, particularly serving as Umbra Sumus agents and taking on stuff kind of like the legendary movie Classic - Charlie's Angels.**

 **And of course, Sona begins to realize certain details about her relationship with the Gamer.**

 **Strangely enough, this chapter was originally intended to focus on Asia, but I _still_ just have no idea as to what to do with her. I didn't want to corrupt her or turn her out of character just yet... at the same time, her innocence is somewhat of a hindrance due to my fluctuating ability to properly write fluff.**

 **Ah whatever. It's five A.M. (again), so I'll figure it out over some sleep - assuming I can sleep.**

 **Next chapter will deal with my second favorite loli who I feel hasn't gotten enough screen-time: Koneko!**

 **So kindly read and review, because being slightly insomniac is a bitch.**

 _ **Silent**_ **_Songbird._**


	19. The Fall

**A/N: And I'm back. Sorry for the extra long delay, it took me a while, but I'm proud to say that I'm now insomnia free, and can sleep well again. Thanks to the reviewers who sent me tips, and tricks to help, and some even sent actual medication and drugs to use! You guys are the best!**

 **Now before I start this, there are three things to address, hopefully I'll make this as spoiler free and as short as possible.**

 **1\. Last Chapter, I did not 'give away' free stats to Issei. The perks and bonuses he received where the the results of attaining extra stat points from absorbing Hidan's powers. Apparently I failed to make it clear and I apologize for the misconception. But here's how it works: He gains a special skill/perk at every milestone stat. This is from 100-150, and then it goes from 500-750 and then from 1000-2000, from 2000-5000 and on and on and on using that progression sequence.**

 **2\. Sadly, due to some mix up in my sleep deprived state, this is _not_ the chapter which focuses on Koneko, rather, that is next chapter, _hopefully_. My apologies if you were expecting the cute loli catgirl.**

 **3\. The next main Arc I have planned isn't the Riser Arc sadly, because as much as everyone would enjoy reading how Issei and Rias' peerage would beat the roast chicken devil and his own peerage, it's been _utterly_ overdone in fanfiction. No really, everyone tries to come up with genius ways to beat the immortal phoenix and many succeed. The best I have read so far belongs to Kur0Kishi's End Game Version R and I'm not interested in trying to top _that._ **

**Seeing as how originality and freshness is my goal, we'll instead have an original arc _starring_ Riser with a twisted version of the whole arranged-wedding fiasco, which I call - The Midas Arc. Of course Issei will still face off against Riser, just under different circumstances. He'll also face an anomaly... who is from the Narutoverse. What? Did you think I put this in the Naruto crossover section if it was only Naruto, Hidan and Jashin that were from that universe?**

 **Anyway~ without further ado, let's get back into the story.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 18:**

 **The Fall**

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Territory**

Sona felt that something was wrong.

The fact that her family members had been on their toes ever since she had arrived, and then the fact that he parents had been oddly quiet, it was more so than should have been normal.

No.

Sona knew that something was wrong.

Throughout the entire debacle, from the time that she had been sentenced to death by Kokabiel, down to the time where she had been brought back to the underworld, she had not seen her sister. There had been no trace of the bubbly ball of cheer and sunshine that was the eldest Sitri sibling and the current holder of the title of Leviathan. She knew that her sister was busy, and that had certain duties and responsibilities that she had to take care of as the Leviathan, but there was _no way_ her overprotective sister would miss out on coddling her to make sure that she was okay. Not to mention, even after the _two days_ she had been back, she had still not bothered to visit Sona.

Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Her parents had been incredibly dodgy around the issue, claiming that they had no idea as to where she was, and they had no real reason to worry, after all, Serafall was an Ultimate Class Devil. She was more powerful than they were, and she could handle herself quite capably.

There was something going on that she herself did not fully understand.

She had instantly gone to the Gremory Territory, in hopes of meeting Sirzechs, as he was possibly the only person who could explain what in the world was going on.

Only for her to hear certain words that she never believed possible.

"What do you mean by I am not _allowed_ see him?"

"Sirzechs-sama is rather occupied with his work, and cannot be disturbed at this time."

 _Occupied_ they had said. She didn't believe a word of it. Something was going on that they didn't want people to know, something that was huge and that they were trying to keep under wraps. All the key signs were there, and it was somehow connected to her sister.

She wouldn't rest until she found out what it was.

"Sona?"

The heiress of the Sitri clan turned, her attention drawn to the person who had called her. Her rival stood at the corner, dressed in a traditional pink dress, arms crossed.

"Rias," she said. "How have you be-"

"Was it planned all from the start?"

Sona paused. "Pardon?"

"Was it planned all from the start?" she asked, unusually subdued "Hyoudou tricking me, the fights, up until you killed Kokabiel. Was it planned all from the start?"

"Most of it yes, some parts however were improvised."

"Of course," Rias shook her head "That's just like you."

" _Excuse_ me?"

"I thought we were friends Sona. You never thought even once, that you could have let me in on what you were planning to do?" Rias said, her hands slowly balling into fists "Or what; did you think I couldn't help? That I was _useless_ , and knowing about the plan would have made no difference?"

"Don't take it personally Rias, it was required that-"

" _Required_?" she stressed the word, "Required – required that Hyoudou make a fool of me? That I get overwhelmingly beaten by an opponent? That I serve as a distraction while you bask in the spotlight?"

The gentle ticking of a clock and shuffling of handmaidens seemed to drown out the silence.

"So that's what this is about."

"You didn't kill Kokabiel." Rias said, her voice dropping to a whisper "You _couldn't_ have killed Kokabiel. Somehow, you made everyone, even my brother believe that you're capable of doing so."

"Yes."

"You're not even going to deny it?"

"Whether or not you know the truth makes no difference to me. You could of course go on and try to slander my name, and deprive me of this abruptly achieved fame." Sona walked forward, her piercing gaze hitting Rias.

"But you won't. You won't because you know that no one would believe you. It's your word against that of the three leaders of the factions." Sona shook her head "Instead of believing you, they will simply grow irritated, and your claims would be nothing more than the ramblings of an envious friend."

"You think – you think I'm _jealous_ of you?

"And will you open your lips and tell me otherwise?"

"I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing! We've known each other for years!"

"Yes we have. For the years that we've known each other, you've always outshined me. Prettier, stronger, more sensual – on more than one occasion I found myself questioning my self-worth whenever I compared myself to you or my sister." Sona pulled off her glasses, slowly fondling the new frame "But not once, no Rias, not _once_ did I ever despise you for it. Instead, I found my own path, I made do with what I was given, and still managed to be considered your rival despite everything."

"But now, now that _I_ have outshined _you_ , it eats you up inside. You cannot stand second place, cannot stand being second best and cannot condone the idea of me being regarded as better than you in _anything_."

"Why would I-"

"Because you're afraid." Sona said in a matter-of-fact tone "You're afraid that if you're not always considered the best, if you're not always in the spotlight – you realize the awful truth of your existence. Take away your beauty, take away your Power of Destruction and what remains of Rias Gremory? What remains of _you_?"

The red haired girl opened her mouth and then gingerly closed it, gnashing her teeth.

"Nothing. Not even _mediocrity_."

A sudden pain flared on Sona's cheek, her head abruptly turned to the side, and her mind only registering the echo afterwards. Rias' hand remained in the air, the girl slowly registering the consequences of her action as her eyes broadened.

Sona swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, and rendered her face into one of dispassionate apathy, even as she could feel the stinging imprint.

"S-sona I'm sor-"

"It seems I have overstayed my welcome as a guest. And for the sake of everything we've been through together I will overlook what just happened." The Sitri Heiress turned around, and stopped. All at once she channeled her murderous intent.

"But if you ever raise that hand against me again, you _will_ lose it." The Sitri magical circle appeared beneath her feet, preparing her for teleportation.

"I thought we were friends Sona."

The portal's blinding light filled the room, but not before Sona's last words were uttered.

"We were.''

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~DxD – Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Rising Sun Hotel**

 **You have slept on a bed. HP, MP, LM/DM and Chakra fully recovered. All Status Ailments Cured.**

 **Key Game Updates have been installed.**

 **Bugs fixed.**

 **New Features Added.**

 **= Dynamic Character Alignment Added**

 **= Character Class System Added**

 **All Game Updates can be reviewed at the change log.**

 _Beep Beep Beep!_

 _Beep Beep Beep!_

 _Beep Beep Be-_

 _RRIIIIP!_

 _CRASH!_

"Ero-tenshi, did you just tear my wristwatch off my arm and shove it out the window?"

"Ise-kun… not too loud…" The Fallen Angel said with a groan "How long were we asleep? My head hurts like it was banged against something... and not in the good way."

"Probably has something to do with the several dozen glasses of alcohol you drank." Issei said as he gingerly climbed out of the bed, taking good care not to wake or disturb neither Asia nor Kalawarner.

"I was trying to get you drunk damn it!" she said, before cringing and holding her head "Augh, that hurts. I don't get it – you drank almost as much as I did, probably _more_. You don't have a hangover, hell, you didn't even get drunk!"

Sadly, it seemed that the Gamer _could not_ get drunk. It didn't matter how many glasses of alcohol he consumed, he never got anything beyond slightly tipsy and buzzed. Once he started going past that point, Gamer's Mind kicked in and prevented him from losing himself.

It was both slightly annoying and slightly beneficial at the same time, but Issei would still have liked to experience the feeling of drunkenness, even if it was just once.

And he could never learn the Drunken Fist martial art style either. That was a shame.

The Gamer glanced at the clock, his eyes almost bulging out in disbelief as he noted that it was already 8:34 PM. His parents must have been worried sick about him.

"Alright, – I think I need to get going, there's so much to do in so little time."

"Still thinking about how to track down Selzen before those exorcists arrive?"

Kalawarner had hinted at the fact that the Vatican was going to send some Exorcists to Kuoh in order to find and apprehend Freed in order to try and save whatever little face they have left. Whilst that was good and all, it would be unwise of him to let unknown elements patrol the city while the key devils who owned it were out especially considering that the Exorcist now had a high bounty on him, in both the human and supernatural realms, and Kuoh could potentially turn to a battleground for bounty hunters. Thankfully, both Sona and Rias had given him de-facto authority over their peerages while they were gone, so Issei would smoke out Freed and hand him over to the exorcists so they could be in and out of the city and out of his hair.

With him still needing to come up with a way to annul Rias' arranged marriage, he didn't need any more drama in his life.

The Gamer gave her a lopsided grin. "Figured it out in one did you?"

"I'm more than just a pretty face with a great body you know."

"I know." Issei moved over to the blonde Fallen Angel, gently placing his hand on her head and stroking her hair as he used Kami's Fingers.

She squirmed beneath his grasp for a second, before she let out a long relaxing sigh. "That feels… good."

The Gamer continued his technique as he watched the effects of her **[Hangover]** status effect slowly lessen. His Winchester's Descendant perk choosing that moment to amusingly help him remember that even devils and angels had quite a similar biology and physiology to that of humans. Same internal organs. Same methods of reproduction. Same hormonal processes. Well, not exactly the same, as the hormones responsible for emotions such as love, lust, and desire were strangely more proactive, which meant that they were capable of both loving, lusting and hating more than the average human was capable of. It did of course put forth a small amount of subtle horror upon realizing that Angels would have to constantly suppress this urges despite it being in their biological make-up – lest they 'corrupt' themselves and fall.

Of course there was also the fact that the hormones responsible for aging and growth were slightly altered – which explained their extra-long, but not immortal lifespans. And of course, they possessed various resistances to most, if not all human illnesses, coupled with an advanced epidermal layer, and stronger antibodies and –

"Ise-kun… I think… that's enough…"

The Gamer drew out of his musings upon noticing that the girl was flushed absolutely red and panting slightly. He instantly cut off his Kami's Fingers technique.

"Sorry about that."

"You know Ise-kun, with all your abilities, something makes me think you could become some kind of Ero-Mage, or maybe even a Powerful Sexlock."

"Sex… lock?"

"I can picture it!" Mittlet rubbed her palms together "You've already got the magic touch, so all you'd need is a spell that can rip clothes, a wand that doubles as a sex-toy, a succubus assistant, and a tentacle-monster familiar!"

Issei rubbed the bridge of his nose. "My life is _not_ a hentai anime."

No matter how easy it would be for it to turn into one.

"Wait, did you just say, succubus?" Issei asked "You mean succubus exist?"

"Sure they do. Though they're rare to find and mostly keep to themselves ever since the species slave-trade was abolished."

Issei blinked. "Species… slave trade?"

"You've never heard of it?" Mittlet said surprised "During the Holy War – which was nothing more than a massive dick-swinging contest – things weren't as good as they are now. Everywhere was in total chaos, and it was only a matter of time for some asshole devils to start capturing other races. They focused on races which weren't human per se, but weren't as powerful as the devils themselves. This started a massive slave trade of different species. The male slaves were used as pawns and cannon fodder, sent off to their deaths in the war or forced to work in mines, forges or fields. The females however… were used as servants, handmaidens, and sex-slaves".

 **Codex Entry Unlocked: The Species Slave Trade.**

"No, I certainly have _never_ heard about that." Issei said, shaking his head at the nature of it all "Just how many species were being treated like this?"

"Succubus for one were considered a rare gem, and could go for several billion. Nekomata and the rarer breed Nekoshou were also used for this, which probably contributed to why the race is extinct today. And of course other yokai, such as cowgirls, and fox-girls… and of course the most popular were the sprites, fairies, pixies, and… elves."

" _Elves_ are real?" Issei's voice strained to a low hiss, before he turned around and flipped his hands in the air "Of course they are, how stupid of me to think otherwise."

The Gamer tried to wrap his head around the whole idea. Less than a week ago, he had turned down a CD from Matsuda which contained a rather racy depiction of a female dark-elf being forced to do certain things. Of course he hadn't thought much of it because it was _fiction_ , it wasn't real, didn't exist, and so he wouldn't judge the people who indulged in such fantasies – being one of them himself.

Of course, knowing that there had been a time in history when such events had been _real_ suddenly cast a much, _much_ different light in lieu of the overabundant amount of erotic material there was on said species. Who was to say that those numerous videos on the internet weren't based on true events?

As utterly ridiculous as the notion sounded, it also painted an interesting light on certain aspects of the world. Apparently, for all their talk on superiority and difference, Angels, Devils, Fallen, it made no difference in the long run. Going to war over quite frankly, ridiculously pointless reasons, segregating, suppressing and enslaving other races due to some misguided sense of superiority?

They were no different.

No different from humans.

Still, perhaps this could be used to his advantage. Upon all three of his personas agreeing with the sentiment, of finding some way to use this to his own advantage, Issei realized just how twisted his mind was becoming.

"You said the slave-trade was abolished right?" Issei asked.

"Yes… after the war came to an end, it was universally agreed to let go of all captured slaves… though some had actually chosen to _stay_ with their captors…"

 _Stockholm syndrome no doubt_. Logic said.

"And of course, even though it's no longer being practiced, there are no real _laws_ in place for owning one. People just stopped because they didn't wish to earn the ire of one of the Four Emperors of the Underworld." She said with a sigh "And though the current Four Satans are trying to crack down on demihuman-trafficking, it's not exactly on their priority list."

 **Codex Unlocked: The Underworld: Demi-Human Trafficking**

"There's-" Issei stopped, reducing his voice upon noting Asia stirring in her sleep "There's _demi-human_ _trafficking?_ "

"Along with the numerous smuggling rings, it makes up for one hell of a market if you're willing to go to the dark dredges of the underworld. There's nothing you can't find."

"Smuggling rings." Issei said, finding the whole thing _extremely_ similar to the human realm.

"They smuggle anything from highly powerful artefacts to questionable alchemical items like potions and tonics, to unique materials such as acromantula silk, to even human organs, dragon bones, nemean lion fur and even unicorn parts – blood, bone, hair and horn."

 **Codex Unlocked: The Underworld: Black Market**

 **Codex Unlocked: The Underworld: Smuggling Rings**

"Unicorns are re–" Issei stopped himself. There was no point getting worked up about what was and was not real at this point. For his sanity, he would assume that _all_ myths were real until proven otherwise.

Still, shady criminal activities aside, this provided him a valid way to earn some major currency. Certain items dropped from bosses and creatures he fought could simply be sold in the Underworld's black market – and there was even the unique possibility of acquiring skill books and various such items there. Essentially, it would become his 'Shop' for his gamer ability/lifestyle.

Of course he wouldn't go as himself. The Red Dragon Emperor was famous, and any purchase he made would be known by his enemies the very second he made it.

So it seems he would need to create an alternate persona – one removed from the legendary Red Dragon, one that was unknown and could enjoy all the benefits vital of anonymity. Thankfully, he had obtained the Transformation skill, so it wouldn't be difficult to create an entirely different persona.

"How do _you_ know all this anyway?"

Mittlet twiddled her thumbs lightly. "Uh… cause I read a lot…?"

"Mittlet."

"A-after I turned into a Fallen Angel, I was hurt and angry –– so I-I've done a lot of things I'm not exactly proud of. Just _please_ don't ask me about it…" she paused, looking somber for once "I really don't want you to think less of me."

The Gamer flicked her forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Like I could think any less of you ero-tenshi".

The fallen angel huffed, averting her gaze and her suddenly heated face.

"Only you could say something heartwarming and insulting at the same time Ise-kun."

On the other hand, Issei was formulating certain plans of his own. He could either completely ignore the numerous crimes going on in the devil underworld, or he could try to take the moral high ground and do something about it.

But as sad as it sounded, it didn't _concern_ him.

Yes, there could be people and innocent creatures being killed, captured and exploited… but basically it didn't affect him, so he had no reason to aid them or to interfere other than some bizarre hero-complex.

But Hyoudou Issei _wasn't_ a hero.

He had his plate full with a more world-shattering destiny, which if he failed to complete, would make saving those people useless in the long run because they'd be dead.

" _Evil will forever remain prominent in the world, not because of the violence of the malevolent, but because of the silence of the virtuous."_

' _Ddraig? Come on, don't give me that. You know there are more important things at stake. The fate of the world –"_

" _And did you ever pause to think, that this world which you seek to so desperately save, does not need rescuing?"_

' _What?_ "

" _I have seen so much Issei. So much. The more time progresses, the more I feel that this world is not worth saving. If anything, it deserves to be destroyed."_

' _Not everyone is bad Ddraig. There are still some people, people like Asia that prove that humanity is capable of kindness and compassion."_

" _Maybe. Maybe not,"_ the dragon said _"All I do know Issei, is that you have the power to potentially save hundreds of lives, right now, right then. If the desire to help others and alleviate their suffering is now considered wrong – now a 'hero-complex' – then truly, humanity deserves no respite."_

"Um… Ise-kun?"

"Sorry, just lost in thought." The gamer said with a sigh "Alright. Mittlet, do you still have any contacts left in the Underworld Black Market?"

The fallen angel nodded, slowly. "I do… but, no. No, no, no, no. Please don't tell me you're thinking about doing what it is I think you're going to do."

"Me? No, _us_. That's me and you. We're doing this together."

"Are you _insane_? Ise-kun, the people running this things aren't _normal_ , they're ruthless, vicious, and incredibly powerful to boot!" she shook her head "You might stand a chance being the Red Dragon Emperor and all, but I'll be slaughtered!"

"Then it's a good thing I'm going to train you."

"No amount of training will-!" she paused, a thought seemingly spring to her mind "…Will the training be _long_ and _hard_?"

"Not that type of training baka-tenshi!"

"Look Ise-kun, you're great and all but-!" she rose two fingers "If you want me to help you out with your crazy plan, you have to agree to two conditions."

Issei sighed. He had no choice but to play to the listen to her demands, because though he could point out the fact that he _still_ owned her soul, he wasn't an asshole and that could irrevocably damage the relationship he had just built with her.

"Alright, what is it?"

"You have to have a roleplay session with me six times a week."

Well that wasn't _too_ bad, but the number of times was absurd.

"Once."

"Five times."

"Twice."

"Four times."

"Three times… a month."

"Deal- hey!"

 _Ping!_

 **Due to your ability to negotiate a standpoint of interest where it concerns a certain service being rendered or good being attained, you have gained a new skill!**

 **Bartering [Passive] Lv. 1**

 **Grants a 10% increase in ability to negotiate every ten levels**

 **Grants a 15% improvement in shop buy and sell prices every ten levels**

 **Grants a 1% boost to Charisma every ten levels**

Issei glanced over his new skill temporarily, before he returned his gaze to the Fallen Angel.

"So, what's the second thing?"

"You have to become a Sexlock!"

The Gamer gave a flat "What."

"You know, a sex-"

"No."

"Just think of the-"

" _No."_

"But-"

"N. O."

The Fallen Angel pouted. "You just want to ruin my fun. Fine! But you have to get a familiar! And maybe find a way to strip clothes off mid-battle~ it would be funny as hell to watch you defeat people with their own modesty!"

"Defeat by modesty?" The Gamer paused at the thought, "But now that you mention it…"

It was not completely impossible; he _could_ create a skill that instantly stripped clothes off. It wasn't entirely useless in battle either, most people were uncomfortable showing their nakedness – their true selves – so brazenly in public. So if he wanted a non-lethal, non-violent way of incapacitating enemies – without his shadow shibari – he could simply just create a technique that stripped them of their clothing and watched as their will to fight crumbled.

And if he was facing an opponent with a tough armor that he could not defeat, he could use this technique to utterly destroy an opponent's armor, making it much easier to attain victory.

 _Or, if you master the skill, you can utilize it to strip the very tissue, muscle and flesh off your enemies, and watch as their lifeless bones clatter to the ground without the slightest noise._

Issei shuddered at the rather morbid use of such a technique provided to him by the voice in his head. Carnality that could take the lightest or smallest things and think up ways to turn it into either something sexually perverted or a cringe-worthy weapon of mass destruction.

The Gamer brought his hand up, calling forth demonic energy with Energy Manipulation, the dark tendrils of devilish power prickling at his finger-tips, before he focused on it.

' _Unstitch, disentangle, and weaken…_ ' The image of clothing fabric came into his mind, and he focused on it, on finding the weaknesses between each and every form of fabric, clothes, and even as far as metal or chainmail… he focused on just how much energy would be needed to utterly shatter the molecular bonds, to disintegrate straight down to the very atom.

That was when he had a sudden flash of images. Of himself, jumping around like an idiot upon successfully ripping the clothes of several girls in several, R rated scenes that somehow managed to make the deed happen in slow motion. Asia, Koneko, Rias, Akeno… and more, and more and more he stripped their clothes with reckless abandon.

' _What… the hell?'_

 _Ping!_

 **Through the act of trying to form a skill to strip down clothes, you have recovered a signature technique of your persona from a past saved game file!**

 **You have regained the skill** **Dress Break** **[Active] Lv. 48! You can now unravel the fabric of clothes with but a single touch, shrink them down into nonexistence or utterly disintegrate those clothes as you wish! At the highest levels, you can shatter Legendary-Class Armors with but a single tap, and even go as far to strip the very flesh off someone's bones!**

"Note to self, every perverted thing in the world possesses a lethal application and _should not_ be taken for granted."

"What are you talking about?"

Rather than explain himself, the Gamer applied a light touch to the blonde, blue-eyed Fallen Angel's silky gown, and subvocalized his new skill.

The gown broke apart almost instantly, acting as though they had been viciously ripped apart by chainsaws before vaporizing into nothingness. However, not only the gown was affected, as both the girls stockings and underwear also vanished, leaving her sitting naked on the bed.

"Ise-kun… you actually created a technique that strips clothes?"

"You asked me to; didn't you?"

"I know! I just didn't think you'd go through with it! I mean… you don't actually have to do anything I say, but you still do. You're only one who actually takes what I say seriously…"

"So I shouldn't take you seriously?"

"Yes! I mean no! I mean-"

"So does that mean our monthly roleplay session is out of the question?"

"Well- w-well-" she suddenly seemed flustered, and Issei gained a moment of 'eureka'.

"What if I said I wanted to start right here? Right now?" He leaned forward, face mere inches from the reddening blonde, before whispering into her ear. "This time, I'll soundproof the bathroom, so no one can hear us, and then I'll _punish_ you for how much of a naughty girl you've been?"

"I-I-I-"

Just to add an extra emphasis, Issei active Dating Mode and watched as the bar over the girl's head dangerously reached pink.

"I'll make sure there's enough _soap_ so I can _lather_ everywhere… wouldn't you like the feeling of my hand falling into wanderlust all over your soapy body? To run above, below, around, and maybe even _inside?_ "

His breath tickled the girl, coupled with the extra boost from Dating Mode and the already rapidly accelerating situation, it was more than the blonde was ready for.

Issei blinked upon noticing her slump backwards. "She fainted."

 _Issei used Confusion! It was super-effective!_ Carnality said with a laugh, _It seems she really is all talk. When it comes down to actualizing it, she's as flustered as the rest of them._

The Gamer chuckled before adjusting the girl's position on the bed to ensure that she wouldn't fall off.

 _Ping!_

 **You have gained a new member of Umbra Sumus - Mittlet!**

 **Role - Fixer/Contact Acquisition**

 **Assigned to Current Task - Investigate the Demi-Human Trafficking Rings - Time Limit: Not Specified**

Issei closed the notification and let his eyes rest on the small Fallen Angel. Mittlet was amusing to say the least, but his mind was drawn to a slightly more troubling issue.

' _Apparently devils used to enslave other races… and Nekomata were supposedly a rarity. The entire race is almost entirely extinct, and there should only be two left. If they really were that valued, just how much more valued would they be now that they're only two in the entire world?_ '

 _If there's anything I know about human desire, it's that the scarcer and rarer something is, the more people would wish to have it._

And that brought Issei to his current dilemma. Koneko was a half-devil, half-nekoshou hybrid. Did that mean that she could possibly be a target?

No. She belonged to the peerage of Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory Clan as well as being the younger sister of the Lucifer. It would be beyond stupid of anyone to attempt to abduct her due to her affiliations.

Still, it couldn't hurt to check up on the girl.

 _As much as the idea of catgirls excites me, aren't you going to create a familiar? Perhaps a tentacle monster like the girl said?_

' _Why in the world would I want to create a tentacle monster familiar?_ '

 _You said it yourself didn't you, every perverted thing in the world possesses a lethal application that should not be taken for granted._

Well, he had said that, but he wasn't going to create such a volatile familiar just for that sake. Issei did of course know the value of familiars and pets, especially in most top-down RPG styles of old in which the player could have their familiar or pet either fight alongside them or collect drops, or even send them to town where they could buy and sell items.

Of course there were numerous other benefits such as if one had a hawk or dog familiar, they could be able to perceive the world through the senses of said animal.

But what type of familiar would fit Issei?

He was a dog person, and a cat person, as well as a bird person. He couldn't just choose _one_ type of familiar and then forgo the benefits granted by all others.

"Unless…"

Yes, it could do. A brilliant, insane plan that just might work.

The Gamer opened the Familiar panel, and was met with a notification.

 **You do not have any Familiars at this moment. Familiars can be contracted at certain places, or, you can choose to play god and create your own artificial familiar.**

 **Would you like to see the tutorial on Familiar Creation?**

Issei almost snorted. Tutorials? No. Issei had never been the type of person to learn through tutorials – and with his own personal intelligence, it would be insulting to try and start now. "ID – Create".

The world around him was overlaid with a large, empty valley, with stars twinkling in the sky and a full moon overhead. Issei let out a grin as he looked over the potential skills he had that could help him out.

Fuinjutsu of course, was definitely a must.

"Well then – time to play god."

* * *

~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Fallen Angel Territory**

 **Fort Goetia**

' _I need to contact Hyoudou Issei, but how?_ '

Raynare sat on her table, dressed in a black nightgown as she tried to imagine possible ways to contact the Red Dragon Emperor.

When Issei had assigned her to spy on Azazel, she had expected that it would be a boring and utterly pointless task, due to the fact that they were currently under a truce in the three factions, so at most all she'd be reporting on was Azazel's creepy obsessions with Sacred Gears.

Raynare had never been so wrong.

It was as though Hyoudou Issei was a lodestone for chaos. Ever since Kokabiel had died – one of the _original_ Fallen Angels had died, killed by a devil no less, the world had taken it as a cue to once more engage itself in mayhem. The news of Kokabiel's death had gone far and wide, going to even other supernatural factions and more so the name of the person who was responsible for it had been on every lip.

This proved to be damn near fatal for one of the Satans.

Serafall Leviathan, being the only female, as well as the most underestimated of the Four Satans, had been sent as a silent emissary of sorts to meet with the goddess Artemis, supposedly having history together, and hopefully try and dissuade the god from starting a war. The meeting had taken place in secret, with Artemis being the one to welcome the devil, but in truth, her reasons for being there were in fact reconnaissance on the Greek Faction and their rumored new secret weapon, a powerful demigod warrior brought back from death by Hades himself, and a pawn of Athena.

Needless to say, Serafall had almost stormed out of Mount Olympus upon hearing the sentence to death against her sister by Kokabiel, and of course, this would not do.

The details weren't specific, but apparently the god Apollo – being the twin brother of Artemis – had snuck in and chosen then of all times – while Serafall was in her adrenaline fueled state to find and save her sister – to try and seduce the Satan to sleep with him. The god wouldn't let her leave, which resulted in her punting him through several walls and straight into Zeus' throne room.

And of course, what would happen if one were to find a devil, uninvited, in the midst of their pantheon, attacking one of their gods?

Total. Chaos.

She might have been an Ultimate-Class Devil, but not even she could have _possibly_ fought back against the full might of all the numerous gods of Olympus on her own.

So now, one of the Four Great Satans was currently being held captive somewhere at Mount Olympus.

The other three Satans were trying to keep the recent development under closed doors, and they didn't want anyone to find out due the insane level of outrage and backlash it would cause. Serafall was an insanely popular figure in the Devil Underworld, and if the public knew what had happened to her, there would be cries for blood in the streets.

Of course Azazel, the crafty bastard that he was, had eyes and ears almost everywhere, and he had learned about the development _as it was happening_.

Raynare wanted to desperately inform Issei of it all, but she had been at Azazel's side for so long that the being would clearly notice her absence, even for a brief while, and it would lead to certain questions that would compromise her. Azazel, Baraquel, and Shemhazai had gave the quiet order for the Fallen Angels to begin mobilizing themselves for war, and as unbelievable as it sounded, Raynare felt that she was slowly being groomed to take up the role of Kokabiel.

But none of it changed the fact that she needed to get an urgent message to Hyoudou Issei as soon as possible.

"There's an intruder! Sound the alarms!"

Raynare snapped up to her feet as soon as she heard the blaring alarms go off. They were currently at Fort Goetia, the main capital of the entire Fallen Angel stronghold, who in the world would think of actually attacking them here?

The Fallen Angel charged out of her room, flying through a long corridor until she reached the main doors –

And watched as the solid doors forged of metal stronger than titanium were ripped from their hinges and tossed around the room like a Frisbee.

There was an overwhelming _force_ of sheer sickening power, and all around her, Fallen Angels dropped like _flies_.

Raynare barely managed to hold on to her own consciousness long enough to stare at the figure that walked through the smoke, and all she could make out were the _ten_ flicking red tails behind him, before her entire world was reduced to darkness.

* * *

 **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~**

 **Issei's Instant Dungeon**

Of all the uses he could have possibly gleamed from Hidan's memories, he never thought it would be the knowledge of how Kakuzu used his Earth Grudge Fear, as well as how he manipulated those tendrils.

The memories that he had gained from absorbing Hidan were constantly in flux, but now, Issei knew about the organization that had been called Akatsuki. He knew about the ten dangerous individuals of the likes of Itachi Uchiha, Deidara, Sasori, Orochimaru of the Sannin, Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, the illusive Zetsu, the angel Konan and of course, the self-proclaimed god Pain.

Issei didn't even want to start thinking of how Naruto had fought them all, because from what Hidan's memories had suggested, the likes of Itachi and Orochimaru alone were ludicrously strong.

He was just glad that he would never have to fight any of them.

And just like that, he _knew_ he had jinxed himself.

Still, Issei started using his knowledge to create what he hoped would be the ultimate familiar, and he also did so by using several items in his inventory.

"Let's see here, we've got some rat tooth, rat poison, Dark Angel Wings, hydrogen peroxide, chloroform, then I've sealed the henge and shunshin jutsu within it, added fuinjutsu elements such as a stabilizing seal, quieting seal, attrition seal, oh, and best to add a dash of the reverse summoning seal for instant teleportation…"

 _This- this- this is nothing but a total butchering of the scientific procedure!_ Logic had raged, _There is no rhyme or reason to anything you are doing! Simply dumping everything in your inventory into some attempt to create life? What in the world could you possibly think to create?!_

"You'll find out won't you?"

Issei manipulated his shadows, bringing forth from it a corporeal orb of shadow that was bubbling, then he pressed it down into what was essentially a shadow pot filled with different crafting items and various other things.

Then Issei equipped the title Fabled Improviser.

 _What are you–– Oh. I see._ Logic said. _That title grants a 65% success rate to all improvised, random or spur of the moment actions or decisions_.

 _Wait a minute, the perk Renaissance Man grants a 75% chance of success to all crafting and a 15% chance of crafting legendary items, and your Sage of Perverts/Gutsy Pervert boost adds an additional 60% to the crafting of all perverted items or works. So that brings your total chances of actually pulling this off to… 200%._

"And now you know why I ignore you." Issei said to the logical persona within him "While you do possess key intellect in certain aspects of life, being fully logical can have critical downsides such as closed-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, and a lack of required… adaptability."

Issei shook his head upon realizing that the persona had gone silent, and almost questioned his sanity at the act of arguing with himself.

"And now, for the finishing touches! Energy Manipulation, Water Affinity: Adhesive Water Orb, and Kami's Fingers!"

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

Issei's grin began to widen as he witnessed the orb begin to glow a brilliant color from pumping in light energy and chakra into it.

"It's working! It's working!"

It shifted, turned and twisted into the multiple different shapes of a polymorphous blob, emitting a slowly piercing noise as the light began to reach blinding levels.

"It's –– It's _alive! Alive!_ "

In a magnificent flash of light that looked like a solar flare going off with the speed of a camera flash, and would have most likely blinded lesser men, the overflowing pot in front of Issei had vanished, and before him stood his new familiar.

The creature moved like goo, and had the same viscosity of jelly, and thus, Hyoudou Issei had gained…

A green slime.

There was a moment of silence.

 _You used all that and spent so long, just so you could create a SLIME?!_ Carnality was in outrage. _A BLOODY SLIME! What the HELL is wrong with you? Every noob who's ever played a video game knows that slimes are the weakest and most useless creatures ever! Much less you whose life is a freaking video game!_

"It's a legendary slime."

 _So fucking what? A legendary ant is still an ant!_

 **You have gained a new familiar!**

 **You have created a legendary familiar!**

 **Legendary Familiars are extremely rare creatures which either possess or gain their own consciousness by drawing forth from the intelligence, thoughts and memories of their Masters. They are capable of performing complex tasks far beyond the scope of most familiars, and are also extremely formidable on the battlefield. This however, also makes them far more dangerous and not at all easy to control.**

"Well crap." His new familiar would draw forth from his Intelligence, and thoughts… and Issei's mind was occupied with three conflicting personas, so just what sort of creature had he created?

The slime shifted, morphing as it grew higher and higher and taller, then, all at once, it gained the shape of a feminine form, complete with hair, two places that look like eyes, a nose, lips and mouth.

"Hello Master."

"Uh, hello?" Issei could not believe that his slime had just evolved into a slime-girl type monster.

"Are you surprised by my transformation Master or by my ability to speak?"

"Both I guess," Issei said "So you have… _consciousness_?"

"I think therefore I am," she said with a smile "I believe that was once said by a renowned human philosopher."

"Great, I created a _genius_ slime girl."

"It's thanks to you having a high intelligence stat Master. And you gave me the ability to transform to this form when you sealed a skill inside me during my making."

"Uh…"

"But Master didn't even know if it would work. Master was winging it."

Issei had the decency to blush at being called out. Clearing his throat, he spoke "Do you like that form? You don't have to take that gender if you don't want it."

She shook her head.

"I enjoy this form Master, I feel it is most comfortable."

"Can you stop calling me Master?"

"Master is my Master, and it is only fitting I call him such."

"And what do I call you?"

The slime-girl paused, and hummed "I was born of you master, of equal parts your Darkness, Logic and Carnality… so you may call me… D…L…C."

 **DLC Lv. 97**

 **Class: Familiar [Legendary]**

 **Species: Slime/Slime-Girl**

 **Master: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Alignment: True Neutral**

 **HP: 97000/97000**

 **MP: 55000/55000**

 **Strength: 103**

 **Vitality: 319**

 **Dexterity: 442**

 **Intelligence: 107**

 **Wisdom: 90**

 **Luck: 169**

 **Charisma** **:** **491**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

"Talk about a conveniently coincidental acronym…" Issei said with a sweatdrop.

"Would you rather call me LCD master? Or maybe Dil-chan? Dil-chan would be nice master."

"The first is the name of a drug, and the second sounds like something a bondage fetishist would call her dildo," Issei said with a sigh "But it's a whole syllable less than DLC, so I guess I'll roll with it."

"Thank you master."

"Now on to the real questions, what's with your Charisma stat? Almost five hundred points?"

"I possess a plethora of persuasive techniques Master, all of which contribute as part of my personality."

Issei blinked. How in the world did that even work? It was like saying that Issei's skills could add to his stats – which, once he thought about it, actually made sense because there were skills that did just that.

"So… what exactly can you do?"

"Anything that you wish of me to do Master."

The sheer confidence that she had exuded once she made that declaration was almost damning. It was like she was stating a fact, and as though she actually believed it to be so.

"I mean…" Issei said gesturing his hands in the air "…in a more literal sense. What skills, powers or abilities do you possess?"

She tilted her head to the side, as though confused by the question.

"You have the knowledge of everything I am capable of Master, as well as the knowledge of things I am not even aware of." She stared at him "After all, you are my Master."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Okay…"

"Is something wrong Master?" DLC tilted her head "Your body language and dialectal cues all indicate towards the feeling of uncomfortableness, awkwardness and uncertainty, which is remarkable giving that you possess a mental skill which can actively suppress such things."

"So you can tell what people are feeling but you can't tell why?"

"I detected slight inhospitality in your tone, but I do not understand. Have I done something wrong Master?"

"It's not you Dil-chan… It's just ––"

Issei scratched the back of his head, letting out a sigh. The slime-girl stared at him for a second, before snapping her fingers.

"Ah. I understand now Master." The slime nodded "You are left internally conflicted at my creation, the creation of sentient life. You do not know if what you have done is ethically right or wrong, and you feel it is not your place to have 'played god'."

"It isn't. This was supposed to be some joke for Mittelt, but I didn't think –" Issei stopped. Took in a deep breath and continued "What do you think about it? Do you think I should have created you?"

"I am not certain how to answer that question Master," the slime-girl said "But I think I do not dislike being created. I do not dislike having consciousness… I do not dislike… living."

"I see," Issei shook his head and let out a laugh "I'm sorry for asking you something so profound. I mean, I can't even imagine what I'd say if God were to stare me down in the face and ask me something like that."

It would be a somewhat chilling concept. Your creator would stare you down, and ask, _"Do you think I should have created you?"_ There was no correct answer to that. None at all.

"I understand Master, but if anything, I am glad to have such a kind Master who would care deeply about me."

"I thought you were smart," Issei said in a perfect deadpan "Not smart enough if you think I'm a kind person."

"Master is kind, even if he does not realize it," she insisted "You asked me for my name and let me keep my form instead of just assigning one to me as you wished."

"How was that being kind?"

"Master, within the first five minutes that humans are born, their names, nationalities and religions are designated for them. They often end up spending the rest of their lives defending the things that they didn't even choose."

"Oh…"

Well that was… a rather disturbing realization.

"You know, despite being part of my three personas, the only aspect I can see inside you is Logic."

"Ah, that's because I'm actively hiding my bloodthirsty and lusty side to make you lower your guard master."

There was a _beat._

"What?"

"That was my attempt at making a comedic statement to induce laughter."

"That wasn't funny."

"I'll try harder next time master."

The Gamer shook his head, staring at the green, translucent slime girl who was giving him the oddest of smiles.

"Alright, so I guess this is all to the familiar process?"

"But Master, I haven't made the binding oath yet."

"Binding… oath?"

"Master doesn't know because Master didn't read the tutorial. Shame Master. Shame."

 _Called out by a slime-girl! Hah! Sucks to be you Issei!_ Carnality had roared with laughter, letting Issei grow slightly annoyed as his left eye twitched.

"Okay, maybe it wasn't a good idea to skip the tutorial," Issei said "But I've always been more of a hands-on learner anyway. So what's this binding oath?"

"Low-class familiars require absolutely no oath, but high-class familiars and legendary class familiars require you to convince them to make an oath to you Master. You have to fight them and win, then you can have them make the oath. The oath varies from familiar to familiar, and if you break the Familiar's Oath, you can lose that familiar forever."

"Wait…" Issei gestured toward the slime "I have to fight, _you_?"

DLC smirked. Actually smirked.

"No master. You have to _survive_ me."

 **Danger Detected!**

 **Danger Detected!**

 **Killing Intent Detected!**

' _Well, fuck.'_

* * *

 **~~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~**

 **Kuoh**

"This is still all so weird."

Murayama Busujima let out a slight yawn as she walked back home from the Grocery Store, having forgotten to get some groceries after a long and grueling training session. The lights on the street flickered, and despite the darkness of the mid-evening, she could still see in front of her as clearly as though it was daytime.

Her friends and everyone at the hospital had all called it a 'Miracle'. They said it was a miraculous recovery as to how she was totally healed, with very little signs of her injury being visible. Hell, she was almost an overnight celebrity with several people wanting to study her and hear her interview as to what had brought about such a tremendous recovery.

They all said it was an act of God.

But she knew better.

Ever since she had made the deal with Sona, the student council president, ever since she offered her soul, she was fully healed. Not only that, but she became stronger, faster, more agile, greater vision, enhanced reflexes. It was like everything about her was improved by a factor of ten. At kendo practice she found herself having to hold back a lot to risk brutally injuring her opponents, and she was now competing with people who she previously assumed was far out of her league.

All because of Sona.

And it was eating the girl up inside because she couldn't find Sona _anywhere_. It was like the girl had just upped and vanished from the face of the earth ever since Kuoh Academy was reduced to rubble. It made no sense, and that was what bothered her, the fact that she had seemingly gained all this power, and her benefactor was missing.

Then again, the timing was _too_ coincidental.

In fact, almost _everything_ was too coincidental. She had almost hit the local news with her recovery, then all at once, on that same day, the most prestigious academy in town is blown up, and several students were admitted into the hospital. All at once she was forgotten as the media instantly started focusing on the 'tragic' disaster of Kuoh.

It worked in her favor, and as much as she was saddened by her school being blown up, she had gained a certain level of cynicism after recent events.

It was also this cynicism that helped her to pick up subtle cues that her father was letting out. She had assumed that the stuck up bastard would be happy that his _only_ daughter had recovered miraculously, and was even better than ever at kendo, _the only thing_ he cared about.

But instead for some reason, his gazes of revulsion had _worsened_.

It was like he _knew_ what she had done to have gotten better, but it made no sense as to how he knew or why he would hate her so much for it. She simply didn't understand it, and once more, she realized that nothing she did would ever please her father. Nothing.

"Well what do we have here?"

Murayama groaned. She was not in the mood to send some wannabe thugs into the hospital, she turned, only to realize that the voice hadn't been addressed to her, and in fact was over at another alleyway. Her newly enhanced hearing had caused her to believe it was close by.

Still, the girl gently made her way to the alley and hid begin the walls left to the entrance.

"Look 'ere boys, we've got ourselves an unexpected guest in our little ol' neighborhood!"

There were about five thugs, wielding weapons ranging from brass knuckles, switchblades, to metal bats, and they seemed focused on an office woman who was in her early twenties. The brown-haired woman in a clean cut business suit looked utterly distraught at being the center of malicious intent.

"Let me pass…" she tried to sound confident, but her voice cracked and made it sound as though she was pleading.

"No, no, no. 'Ere's the thing sweetie, me and the boys have been bored for a while, we could do with some… _entertainment_."

Murayama clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was never in her to play the hero, for any reason whatsoever, but she felt that there was no way she was just going to turn a blind eye to what was happening here.

Before Murayama could even think to move to intervene, there was a loud crash.

Everyone turned, as they watched a figure crawl out of a trash can, covered in filthy grime, and then he rolled over to a sitting position. Completely ignoring everyone's gazes, the man withdrew what seemed to be a bottle of alcohol from his pockets, opened it with his teeth, and took a long satisfying gulp.

"What in the-"

The man let out a large belch before he began to down the alcohol in one gulp.

The business woman met his eyes, for a few seconds, and the gaze he gave her was one of the "Are you fucking stupid" variety, before her eyes widened in realization.

With the gazes of the thugs stuck on the haggard man, the woman was able to take several step backwards, stealthily take off her shoes, and made a mad dash away from the alley.

"Oi! The hell? Get he-"

"Let it go fucktards. Shit, you guys must be pathetically desperate if you really wanted to fuck that."

"What did you just say?"

The leader of the thugs, a man with a Mohawk haircut and thick rectangular shades addressed the person on the floor.

"I'm trying to get some sleep here and how in the seven fucking hells do you think I can sleep here if this becomes the location of a rape crime?"

The thugs looked at each other, and then back to what was becoming the weirdest hobo they had ever met. The Mohawk-leader shook his head in slowly building irritation, before he stalked forward and opened his hands in an explanatory gesture.

"It seems you don't understand how things work here." The thug said "I'm the boss of this here joint you see, I take advantage of those poor sods that walk around this neighborhood at night, like that bitch who ran away thanks to you. Now I can't have some crippled beggar ruin my fun now can I?"

The 'begger' simply belched in his face.

"You son of a-"

"This is your only warning," the figure on the floor said "Walk away shitface, I'm not in the fucking mood."

"What did you call me?!"

"Shitface. I called you shitface, because by the looks of things, your ass is jealous of the amount of shit that just came out your mouth."

"I'll gut you motherfucker-"

"Yeah I fucked your mother, but only because she was too stupid to realize I was raping her," The voice said "By the looks of it you inherited her fucking stupidity."

Murayama watched the Mohawk thug seethe in rage.

"Go on, prove me wrong shitface. Say something intelligent. Anything."

There was a _beat_.

"Kill 'em!"

What followed was perhaps one of the most brutal thrashings Murayama had ever witnessed in her life. One would think that five men with varying degrees of weaponry converging on a man who was on the floor would have ended in a predictable manner.

But it didn't.

A knife disarmed and redirected against a throat.

A baseball bat sidestepped and an elbow dislocated.

A brass knuckle connects with a stomach – and a wrist snaps.

A switchblade parried and an ear lost.

Fingers invade eyeballs.

Jaws kiss fists and teeth learn to fly.

By the time it was over, one man stood, with his limping leg, and gazed at the five downed bodies of the armed thugs, before he scoffed.

"Fucking shitface. I told you I wasn't in the mood," the man let out a cough, before spitting to the side "Fuck it. I used kill monsters and devils, and now I'm barely winning fights against street thugs in alleyways. Where the fuck did everything go wrong?"

The man walked forward with his noticeable limp, left arm holding his stomach, right hand gulping down liquor. He made it three steps before he stopped and sniffed the air.

"Oh just fucking great," he swore "You might as well come out. I know you're there."

Murayama frowned, before taking in a deep breath and moving out of her hiding place, allowing her to get a full view of the white-haired man, who looked absolutely tattered and haggard, as though he hadn't eaten or slept in days.

"You're bleeding" she said, noting that the man had apparently been stabbed in the stomach during the fight.

"Thank you captain fucking obvious. I can tell when I'm bleeding because I feel the fucking pain!" he said, before letting out a grunt, and finally gulping down the last of his bottled liquor, before he slammed the glass bottle into the ground, shattering the base, and then he pointed the jagged edge of the glass bottle at her.

"Well, you're here to finish me off aren't you? Even if I'm going to die today, I'm not fucking going to go without a fight!" he said with a low growl "Killed by a devil in a fucking alleyway? There's no fucking way in Quarta's saggy tits am I going to let my story end like that!"

Murayama stared at him, with a mixture of confusion and uncertainty. Then all at once, the image of the man clicked in her head.

"You're the one on the TV and newspapers! The priest that bombed Kuoh Academy!"

"I _did not_ blow up that fucking school!" he said with a dangerous hiss "I've done a lot of different fucked up things, and it's the one thing I _didn't_ do, that everyone fucking remembers, and everyone wants to fucking kill me for!"

The man lets out a series of coughs, before his mouth fills with blood and his makeshift weapon slips from his fingers.

"Fuck… it."

Clutching his stomach, Freed Selzen fell to the ground.

"Fuck… it. I lived a shitty life… and now I get this shitty death. Heh, fitting for a shitty person like myself."

The pool of blood slowly gathered under him, leaving Murayama torn between helping a man who was a wanted terrorist… or leaving him on the pavement to die.

In the end, Murayama turned her back and slowly walked away.

She couldn't take him to the hospital because he was a wanted terrorist, and aiding him in anyway would make her a criminal as well. A felon. Not to mention, such a man who swore so brutally, and had almost certainly killed five men did not deserve any sympathy.

Five men who were attempted rapists, her mind supplied her. But he hadn't helped the woman out of some heroic need to do so, he was just looking out for himself.

And she had to look out for herself as well.

So she walked away.

Even though beyond his eyes of insanity, lay an ocean of loneliness too proud and too stubborn to utter out the desperate plea for help. It wasn't her business.

She kept walking.

And on. And on. And on.

Until she realized, she'd arrived at exactly where she began.

"This is going to be the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life."

Thus Freed Selzen found himself the most unlikely savior in the most unlikely person.

All the while, an invisible being watched, his hand conjuring a bucket of buttered popcorn, as he stared through a dark-glided mirror to observe everything unfold.

" **Ah- The pleasure of infinite possibilities. Choices were made and destinies were fixed… but now… everything changes."**

The God of Carnality conjured up three mirrors, the first possessing within it the sight of a young bespectacled woman caressing at a picture before crushing it in hand. The second containing a crimson haired girl, staring into a door of darkness and treading one foot in. The final image shifting to that of a cell, where in a beautiful black-haired woman is chained on a cross and a bald, scarred man with ashy skin locks the door.

"… **everything changes."**

* * *

 **~~~~~~ DxD: Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~**

 **Issei's Stats**

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 35 [49.05%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 3500/3500**

 **MP: 4650/4650 [Chakra: 3610/3610] [LM/DM: 2135/2135]**

 **Strength: 144**

 **Vitality: 175**

 **Dexterity: 205**

 **Intelligence: 186(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 89 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 32 (+1)(+3)(+71.7)**

 **Charisma: 60 (-1)(+1)(+1.7)(+2)(+3)**

 **Stat Points: 130**

 **Perk Points: 6**

 **Prestige Points: 7,815**

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **: Ho-Ho-Ho! Bet no one saw that coming? Sona and Rias' friendship dissolves, Issei learns about the underworld's underworld, Raynare's spy mission might come to an unexpected end, Serafall is in deep trouble and Murayama might just have made the biggest mistake of her life.**

 **Oh, and Slime-girl.**

 **And, yes, DLC looks _exactly_ like Suu from Monster Musume: Everyday Life With Monster Girls.**

 **Ironically, when thinking of the Idea for Issei's familiar, I actually went with a slime-girl because of the usual idea of slimes being... well... slimes. In canon anime, the slime was Issei's first choice anyway, even if it was just for perverted uses. Then it got me thinking... what if the uses weren't _just_ perverted? What if he actually got a rather _dangerous_ slime? Just as I'm sure no one ever imagined using the Dress Break for such... er, _gory_ purposes.**

 **Yeah...I probably need to see a psychiatrist.**

 **Special thanks goes to Alastair Crowley for his "Sexlock" review, and to Harmless Bystander for helping me work out a certain character. I read every review, every last one, and as much as I'd like to respond to every review here in the author's notes, I feel it's a cheating way to increase word count, and it pisses me off just as much as I'm sure it pisses off my readers.**

 **And finally, hit the 200k word mark.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	20. Twister

_**A/N: A**_ **nd we're technically at the 20th Chapter (counting the prologue). So it's a shorter special chapter to lighten up your mood for the Holiday Spirit. Do enjoy!**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 19:**

 **Twister**

* * *

 **Kuoh**

 **Miko River**

"This is surprisingly more relaxing than I had thought."

Issei sat on a boat that was gently drifting across the surface of a river, banked on both sides by luscious trees. At the edge of the boat was a fishing rod connected to Issei's shadow, the shadow like tendrils having morphed into Issei's new technique, Shadow Hands, and the Gamer utilized it to the best of his advantage.

His legs were crossed as he maintained a perfectly still posture, breathing in and out as he activated Meditate.

"Master… why are we fishing?"

" _I'm_ fishing. You're watching me fish."

"Ah! Is master trying to forget the events of last nig-"

" _Don't_ mention _it_." He said with a shudder and a twitch of the eye "I'm surprised you're already up and at it. I almost killed you."

"You witnessed Dil-chan's self-regenerative abilities first hand Master. Nothing can keep Dil-chan down for long!"

Yes, Issei had experienced that fact _first hand_. Damn, Carnality was still laughing at him for the fact that he'd almost lost to slime-girl. A _freaking_ slime-girl. He'd faced off against immortals and legendary beings, but he had almost lost to what was essentially several peoples closet fetish.

Admittedly, DLC was a _legendary_ slime-girl – something he realized was _not_ to be taken for granted – but it didn't change the fact that Issei had to _invent_ several new skills just to be able to beat her.

Shadow Hands. Fireball. Spinning Mana Arrow. Those three had been the starters, before he finally realized that DLC was immune to fire, immune to blunt physical attacks, immune to slicing or piercing attacks and immune to holy and demonic attacks. The Gamer was left defenseless, he couldn't even bind her with his shadows due to her gelatinous form. It was only when he created Frost Flare – a skill which instantaneously flash froze anything it hit – that he had been able to turn the battle around.

Right up until she displayed that she could shape-shift her form into _anything_ she wanted, as well as turn her slime body into what was basically, liquid titanium, rendering his new found cryokinetic power useless. He'd spent a long time dodging what was essentially iron-clad, spiky, _tentacles_ of doom.

And when he'd gotten a way around _that_ , she revealed that she could secrete venomous poisons and toxins, as well as paralyzing agents, lubricating agents, corrosive agents, numbing agents, knockout agents, incredible adhesives, and even a bloody _aphrodisiac_.

All of which she had generously used on him.

The only advantage of _that_ was after being repetitively poisoned over and over and over again, the Gamer's Body had rewarded Issei with a perk called Poison Immunity. He had also found out that Gamer's Mind nullified the effects of all aphrodisiacs – which was a life saver.

Still, as though that _wasn't_ enough, there was the fact that her 'darkness' and 'carnality' seemed to only ever manifest when she was fighting… so the gamer had to subdue, a raging, quasi-untouchable, psychopathic, and extremely horny, legendary-class slime-girl…

Certain images of slime creeping over him and melting his clothes were about to resurface and the Gamer pushed it to the back of his mind with all the subtlety of a bulldozer in a glass house.

Nope. Nope. Nope. He was _not_ going to let himself remember the fight.

He shuddered slightly, just glad he had been able to defeat her before she had decided to _go further_.

' _Happy thoughts. Good thoughts. Fishing – yes, fishing – very relaxing.'_

The Gamer let himself take a deep breath as he learned his lesson. Do _not_ underestimate slime. _Ever_.

"Master, you haven't assigned me any tasks yet."

"Tasks?"

"As your familiar Master, I can operate not only as your battle companion, but also as your amanuensis." DLC said, sounding happy, "I have already taken the privilege of organizing a to-do list of available tasks, missions, and other side-activities."

 _Talk about having a real go-getter._ Carnality had mused. _I really like this one._

Issei felt a response from his shadow, and willed it to reel in the catch, watching as a fish flopped out of the water and landed into a bucket, squirming with the other twelve catches of the day.

"I appreciate the notion Dil-chan but I'm taking a break from doing anything major for now."

The familiar pouted, in her shrunken form, and given a set of clothes which was essentially a dark-red raincoat, she looked almost adorable.

"While I do respect your decision to take a break Master," she said, "Master must remember that his enemies and the world aren't going to stop just because master is on vacation."

"Who said anything about being on vacation? I'm conducting a key experiment here."

"Experimenting what master?"

Rather than respond, Issei continued to take deep breaths, in and out, in and out, feeling the connection to the water, the trees, the air, he let his body become completely still as he felt himself and nature become one.

Senjutsu was a skill that was supposedly extremely hard to learn. The way Naruto had gone off totting and touting about him taking several years to learn it had been ridiculous. With the Gamer's Mind and the Gamer's Body, Issei was certain that it would be far easier to learn than Naruto had originally thought. And so, he had actually succeeded. Issei was starting to feel the world around him, he was starting feel the connection with everything and everyone, starting go feel their souls, their hearts, and their energies. He could feel –

 _PAIN._

Issei gasped as he clutched at his chest, for the first time feeling a tremendous amount of pain in his heart as though it had been impaled by a sharp, jagged blade.

"MASTER!"

All at once, vicious thoughts and images, malevolent ideas, and screams, begging, pleading, they rushed his had all at once before Issei found himself rolling over as though his entire body was on fire, he rolled on the boat clutching his chest and only when he felt his throat ache did he realize that he had been screaming at the top of his lungs.

Gamer's Mind activated, giving Issei a brief reprieve as he began sweating, panting as hard as he could. That was when he felt the fingers of his hand suddenly go stiff.

"Master! Y-your hand!"

It was starting, slowly spreading out, but Issei watched as the fingers of his left hand turned to stone, before it spread, spread all the way down to his wrist, and was spreading even faster.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Issei swore before he thought quickly about what to do. Without making a moment's hesitation, a Light Katana appeared in his right hand.

"Master- Wait!"

"No time!"

The Gamer swung, as hard as he could, directly on his left elbow.

A spurt of blood followed, and half of an arm soared through the air.

 **-2045 HP!**

Issei had to bite down on his lip to prevent himself from screaming out in agony, before he stared at the stump of his decapitated arm. More accurately, he stared at the other parts of his body to ensure that none of it was in any danger of turning to stone.

"M-master! Y-your a-arm."

The Gamer let out a sigh of relief as he slumped back into the rowboat, and let his head hand from the edges.

"It's alright. It _should_ grow back once my HP is restored. If I didn't have Gamer's Body, well, I'd be royally screwed."

 _Ping!_

 **Killing Intent Detected!**

Sense Danger picked up a threat, and Issei blinked as he identified the form of a girl who was currently in the air and aiming for his boat.

 _Doesn't she know simple physics? She'll capsize us if she lands!_ Logic had screamed.

Issei had been expecting the same thing, however, to his surprise, she landed with literal cat like grace and agility, as though giving a middle finger to all the laws of momentum and gravity.

"Kone-"

He saw the hit coming a mile away, in slow motion, as though he was watching a rerun, and it was almost child's play to catch the girl's hand and drag her towards himself, leading her into a one handed hug.

 **-45HP!**

Issei's left eye twitched as he felt the girl's fists still slam against his ribs in a fast one-two combo. Being a Rook granted the little girl quite a nasty amount of strength, but Issei's Steel Skin was a godsend in that physical damage received was 75% nullified, otherwise Issei would have had several broken ribs.

DLC had moved to retaliate, but Issei quickly gestured to his familiar to stand down as he stared at the petite form of the girl in front of him who had detached from his hug and was glancing at him with a gaze he had never quite seen before. He could read her emotions from the surface without having to observe her, and it was the first time the Gamer had ever seen the usually stoic Rook show so much at once. There was anger, it was the most predominant, but it stood side by side with confusion, uncertainty, and in contrast with sadness, trepidation, and fear.

"Why, why did you do this Issei-sempai?" her voice wavered between monotone and coarse, as though she was recovering from a lost voice.

"Koneko-chan! I've been looking all over for you! I've got some freshly caught fish that you'd lo––"

She gripped him by the shirt, actually gripped him, though he could tell that she was trying her best to be as gentle as possible.

"This isn't funny Issei-sempai- why did you- did you-" her voice was becoming harder to stay in monotone, and Issei caught her gaze as she stared at his arm.

He understood why she was so broken up about it, because she didn't know he could easily regenerate it. None of the devils knew about his Gamer powers and abilities. He had kept them in the dark and attributed most of the stuff he could do to him simply borrowing off Ddraig's powers.

Issei chose to tell neither Sona nor Tsubasa nor any of them not because he didn't trust them, but because of the ramifications of what his ability could do and because there were a thousand and one deities and beings out there who could read minds. Simply telling them was a risk not because they couldn't keep the secret, but because of people like Alucard who had mindreading. The Exodus Switch could alter reality on a whim, more so if _anyone_ found out about him having it, alongside with the Boosted Gear – he would become the most targeted person in the universe.

"Dil-chan, run damage control."

Koneko stepped back, having missed the small form of the Slime-girl, before the figure blurred over to Issei's arm, and engulfed it in a form of glowing green liquid. DLC possessed regenerative abilities which could be transferred to others in the same way Issei could transfer power with his Boosted Gear, and in no time at all, Issei received an alert.

 **HP Fully Restored!**

As though it was a plant blooming, bone protruded from the wounded stump, stretching to grow into the phalanges, before a layer of tissue covered the bone, and lastly, the epidermal layer of flesh followed.

Once she was done, the slime girl shrunk down to miniature size and slinked herself into one of the gamer's pockets, while Issei flexed his arm, showing the small white haired girl the perfectly untarnished limb, with no sign of scarring whatsoever.

"Did you think I'd cut off my own arm if I didn't have a way to grow it back?"

"Issei-sempai is stupid enough to do such yes."

Issei held his chest in mock hurt, "Koneko-chan is so mean."

The girl ignored his antics. "Issei-sempai was practicing Senjutsu."

The Gamer grinned. "Yes, I was."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Senjutsu is dangerous to learn Issei-sempai. Without proper supervision, you could have absorbed too much ill intent and go insane. You could have turned yourself into a statue."

"I know."

"You _know_? And still you-"

"Just because something is dangerous doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do it anyway. If we were all afraid to take risks, we'd never get anything done."

The stoic girl took one long look at him, and Issei returned the gaze, his mouth crinkling into a smile as Koneko shook her head.

"Issei-sempai has a death wish."

"If anything, I think death has a 'me' wish."

It was true… if you twisted and stretched the fact that Death found him 'amusing'.

"You've changed Issei-sempai."

Maybe it was the suddenness of the way she said it that brought the Gamer back to reality.

"Is my change not to your liking?" Issei said "I can always go back to trying to peek underneath your skirt just so I could find out what color of underwear you're wearing."

"The old Issei-sempai was a despicable lowly pervert," she said "But at least he was honest."

Issei blinked.

 _Damn._

"What do you mean?"

"The Issei-sempai I met, the one I knew, was a type of person who cared deeply about his actions. He was a person who thought that he was a monster because he defended himself and sent someone to the hospital."

The memory reimbursed itself in Issei's mind, and he noted, that it felt almost like an entire lifetime ago.

"Issei-sempai was a person who knew he was a sinful, lecherous pervert, but he never suppressed it, because he wanted to be true to himself."

"I'm not-" Issei stopped. Realizing that had he uttered those words, he would have proved what she was saying. That he was lying. Both to her and to himself.

"Issei sempai, your eyes never strayed from my face when we were talking. Not _once_."

The Gamer's eyes slowly widened in realization. How, when- But-

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"It is." She said, nodding her head.

"But it isn't you."

 _It wasn't him_.

It wasn't in Hyoudou Issei's nature to suppress his craving and adoration for the feminine flesh, his desire to see people's true selves. It wasn't in him to avoid staring and drowning himself in the beauty of the feminine form and the soul that encapsulated that beauty. In his strong desire to ensure that his mind was never overtaken by Carnality, and to stop himself from doing things out of some carnal drive, he was suppressing everything that made him - _him_.

 _Without your lust, your desire, what are you Hyoudou Issei?_

 _What are you?_

"I am-" Issei let his lower lip bite his teeth.

"A PERVERT!" The Gamer sprang up from his position, accidently rocking the boat, and leading to his declaration ending in a way he didn't quite expect.

When Assassin's Grace had said that he would fall face first into a girl's panties but do it gracefully, it had been literal. Somehow, someway, Issei managed not to fall or slip on anything, but instead, Koneko had been the one to lose her balance. Issei had only followed the motion and tried to catch her, and he flamboyantly spun, like some ballet dancer, as Koneko followed his motion, and the Gamer watched in overly agonizing slow motion as the girl's short gown was flipped up, and a pair of white panties with the beautiful outline of the Rook's most sacred of parts approached his face. Trying to put his hands in front of his face together to stop her decent only made it worse, as the white haired rook had somehow sat on top of his face and the Gamer's hands firmly grabbed onto her bum and somehow slipped into her panties.

He felt his index and middle fingers enter a hole he knew they had no business being inside just as her _lower_ lips forcefully kissed his mouth.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

Then a powerful gasp and moan.

 **Perverted Situation!**

 **Gained +5 Strength, +3 Vitality and +2 Dexterity!**

There was a stretch of silence.

"It seems like I was wrong about you Hyoudou-sempai, you're as despicable as ever."

The sounds of knuckles cracking filled the air.

"W-wait! I swear that wasn't directly my fault!"

" _Directly?"_

"Er… I was blessed by a god of carnality and now I randomly trip and fall into girl's panties?"

 **-5 HP!**

 **-6 HP!**

"You know Koneko-chan if you keep hitting me, I just might start liking it, and I think that's one fetish both of us can do without."

The nekomata stopped her next punch and she paused "I can live with that Issei-sempai."

 **-12 HP!**

"Lower, to the right, hmm… yeah that hits all the right spots."

Koneko stopped, shuddering "You're sick Issei-sempai."

"Just kidding Koneko-chan. It's not like I actually enjoy-"

 _Ping!_

 **Thanks to the twisted and warped nature of your mind, and the sheer number of beatings you received from your years as a pervert, you now have unlocked a new skill!**

 **Gained skill,** **Energy Masochism** **[Passive] Lv 1! This converts a portion of all damage received from females into your energy pools! If all available energy pools are filled, it converts it into HP! Also, dealing light physical damage to female 'allies' can restore their energy!**

 **Current Level: Converts 1% of Damage Received from Females into Energy.**

 **Congratulations! You now have a valid reason to be beaten up by sexy girls!**

"-it."

Issei's eye twitched as he read the last line. It was annoying because it was true. The skill could only be leveled up from constant 'use' so that meant that he'd need to be beaten up to ridiculous levels by women for it to be maxed out. It sounded useless, but if he had this skill while fighting DLC, the battle would have ended in a completely different way. Once it was maxed out, he'd become invulnerable to damage from women… at the cost of being considered a masochist.

He had at first considered using DLC for the skill… but he was not exactly enthusiastic to letting himself fight that monster of a slime-girl again. Hell no. He did not want slime entering _certain_ cracks and spots that slime did not deserve to enter.

So that left him with only one choice.

"Koneko-chan… I'm about to make you an offer you can't refuse."

"Issei-sempai?"

"Dress Break."

There was silence.

 **Massive Surge of Killing Intent Detected!**

"You're an utterly irredeemable pervert."

"TOTALLY WORTH IT!"

The pained shrieks of a man would forever scar the once serene river.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Demon Realm**

 **Las Diablos**

"Hey Alucard, remember that one time were caught infiltrating Asgard?"

"Yes, when you pissed off Thor by fusing Mjolnir with a fourteen inch vibrating dildo and after he stopped your orgy with Valkyries in power ranger outfits."

"Or about the time we were caught in Heliopolis?"

"When Anubis wanted to suck out your soul for trying to get him to play fetch for a Scooby Snack."

"Or the time when we were kicked out of Takamagahara?"

"If I recall, that was the time you used Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to shave your balls after you called Amaterasu your 'side-chick'."

"How about that epic time we were caught infiltrating Olympus?"

"Yes, when you couldn't keep it in your pants and Aphrodite cursed you to enter Artemis's room and dance hotdog-condom style."

"Now, do you see the pattern my friend?"

"That your penchant for either mindless sex or wanton mischief usually ends in horrible ways?"

"No!" Naruto said "We only ever get caught doing awesome or hilarious stuff, so why the hell is this time different?!"

Uzumaki Naruto groaned as he stared at the vampire behind him. Infiltrating the Castle had been a total bitch because the entire castle completely negated all forms of teleportation. Not just teleportation, but it even prevented Omnipresent beings from being able to exist within it, it negated scrying, divination and any other conventional mode of observation.

He couldn't even sneak in because the castle grounds had seals everywhere, and while he _could_ deactivate the seals, there was no way he could do so without being detected.

Which was exactly why he and Alucard stood, back to back, as they were surrounded by seven figures in long, dark, hooded robes, each possessing a different kanji engraved on it.

Envy.

Greed.

Sloth.

Gluttony.

Lust.

Pride.

Wrath.

The being identified as Pride stepped forward, his skin seemed a pale bony white, and he spoke in a slow, elaborate drawl. "You are trespassing in Maou-sama's castle, No-Life King, and Uzumaki-"

"Hold up!" Naruto said, raising his hand "Really, you call him the No-Life King, yet you can't address me by my title?"

Alucard let a hand come over his face.

"Is this really the time for such?"

"How would you feel if you got a Ph.D, and someone addressed you as "mr" or "-san" instead of 'Dr.' or 'Sensei'? What, did you think that the person spent the extra years gaining the doctorate for no reason?"

The seven figures stared at each other, slowly, before glancing back to the blond. "You are an intruder Uzumaki. Is your main concern really how you are addressed?"

"You want to play it that way? Fine." Naruto said pointing at Pride. "Henceforth I'll call you Miss Piggy,"

"Miss… Piggy?"

"And as for you guys," Naruto pointed at the Wrath and Lust "Your names are now Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear."

"Uzumaki, just… stop…" Alucard covered his face with his hands.

Naruto regarded the remaining four 'sins'. "Muppets are too good for you lot. I'll call you Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po."

The seven figures glanced at each other, before slowly taking a step backwards.

Pride's tone wavered "It seems you are every bit as insane as the rumors suggested–"

"Insane? Insane? How rude." The sage lifted his nose in the air. "Alucard, tell Miss Piggy that I do not wish to talk to him anymore."

"You heard him 'Miss Piggy'."

Pride blinked beneath his hood, ignoring the snickering of his comrades before sparking in irritation "You two are intruders in maou-sama's castle and I will not have you esca-!"

"I said I do not wish to talk to you anymore you empty-headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

"Wha-"

The cloaked beings stared blankly, watching in a combination of confusion and befuddlement as the vampire and the sage to simply burst into laughter.

"Anyway, I'd like to dedicate this flashy escape to you morons – for giving my shadow clone enough time to disable the anti-teleportation seals, you're the best idiotic mooks any evil boss could ask for." Naruto said with a grin as a tri-pronged kunai appeared in his hands and he grabbed Alucard's shoulder.

"Seize him!"

"Hasta la vista baby."

Both intruders vanished in a yellow flash, leaving the Pride and the other cloaked guards seething silently in rage, while Sloth slowly scratched his chin.

"Wait, who was Kermit again?"

* * *

~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

"Gah… maybe I ought to turn him in for the reward after all."

Murayama groused to herself slightly as she walked back to her apartment. She had adequate knowledge of first aid, and she had been able to properly bandage the wounds of the strange uncouth man she had found, but she didn't even know if he'd wake up, much less if he'd heal properly.

A bullet shot to the knee, three stab wounds to the side, multiple infections, starvation, sleep deprivation and severe blood loss. For a man whose character was utterly irredeemable, he possessed an incredible amount of willpower, and that was most likely the only thing keeping him alive.

The girl herself didn't even know what in the world had possessed her to help him. Maybe it was because Katase, her only friend, had taken to her hounding her ever since her 'miraculous' recovery. Or because she wanted to blame her father, for segregating her away from the rest of her family.

Or maybe it was just one of those things people did without an explanation.

Murayama sighed once more to herself as she unlocked her apartment, only to blink as she could instantly perceive the odor of smoke.

"Don't tell me-!"

Murayama grit her teeth. Had he woken up? What sort of bastard would try to burn down the house of someone who saved him?

She ran forward into the house, only to come upon the most unlikely scene she would have possibly ever encountered.

"Fuck! Fuck! How the fucking hell do you turn off this shit?!" Clad in a pair of shorts, and nothing but bandages from the waist up, a man stood in the kitchen, wielding a fire extinguisher as he forcefully pressed the hose against the kitchen counter and stove, rapidly turning the entire kitchen white as the foamy substance extinguished the fires.

Murayama stood, slack-jawed, until the man seemed to register her presence.

"Oi devil-bitch! You might want to order some take out, I think your stove is broken!"

What.

The.

Fuck.

Murayama grind her teeth even further. Alright. That settled it. She was going to call the cops on this guy.

"First, how in the world are you even up and walking? You were on death's door just last night! Second, my name isn't devil-bitch, it's Murayama. Third, my stove isn't broken, you just don't know how to use it. And Fourth… are those _my_ shorts you're wearing?!"

"What, you'd rather see me walk around with my dick swinging around in the air and my ass shining in your face?"

"That's not the point and you know it!" a thought came to her "Wait, you're not wearing my underwear are you?"

"The fuck? Do I look like some gay ass motherfucking cross-dresser to you?"

"That means you're wearing my shorts… commando style…" Murayama let her hand run over her face "I liked those shorts. Now I have to burn them."

"You know, this is the fucking longest conversation I've had with a devil without them screaming or about to die." Freed said, idly twirling a knife in his hand.

"So what, you're going to kill me?" Murayama glanced at the man, and then to the knife.

Freed stalked forward, pressing the blade to his cheek.

"Kill you? Fuck no. I'm not gonna kill you," the blade locked onto his teeth "I'm just gonna hurt you, really, really, _bad_."

He pointed the knife in her direction, and she stared at it, and stared at him.

"Well?"

"You're not scared."

"And I'm supposed to be scared of you?" she said with a scoff "You can barely even stand, and you're using whatever strength you have to put on this stupid charade. If you could attack me, you would have already."

The Exorcist chuckled, before he stabbed the knife into the wall.

"Shit, you're really fucking stupid aren't you? What type of girl saves the life of a wanted terrorist?"

"What type of terrorist saves a woman from being raped in an alleyway?"

Freed stepped back, before scowling.

"That? Fuck, I did it because it would have been fucking inconvenient for me if she had been raped. I didn't care two shits about her!"

"Do you think _she_ knew about that? Do you think _she_ would _care_? For all she knew, you were a saint who delivered her from a terrible fate. Your motivations for doing so aren't important."

The wafting smell of the thick smoke in the house having reduced to a slow spongy odor.

"In other words, you don't fucking know."

The silence stretched.

The coffee machine made a series of noises, and Freed found himself letting out a 'tsk' of annoyance as he went over to the device to retrieve his warm beverage.

The exorcist poured the warm brownish liquid into two cups, before grabbing one for himself and giving one to the girl, who looked at him suspiciously.

"You don't have any fucking alcohol here, so coffee is the next best thing." The man wafted in the smell of his coffee, before sighing in pleasure and gesturing the second cup over to Murayama's direction.

"I think I'll pass-"

"Look, if I fucking wanted to kill you, trust me, I wouldn't use poison. That's a bitch's weapon."

Murayama glanced at the cup, and then back at the man, before her mind reached what was essentially, a surprising assumption. Was… was this was his own way of showing gratefulness? Appreciation?

By giving her a cup of hot coffee.

Murayama swallowed as she realized her lips suddenly felt dry. There was a part of her that felt that it was a trap; a part of her expected her face to be scalded by the hot liquid the second she reached out to collect the cup.

She reached out, fully expecting agony–

Only for the pain to never arrive.

She grasped the ceramic cup slowly, her thumb idly toying with the handle as the comfortable warmth fell into her palms. She rose it to her lips, tentatively, and let the liquid brush softly against her tongue.

And she blinked in surprise. It was _good_. Far better than she had expected.

"This is good," she said, taking a gentle sip "What's the secret?"

"The fucking stuff that dreams are made of."

Murayama rose an eyebrow.

"Sweat, blood, and a ton of jizz."

The girl spat out the coffee in an epic spray, before she realized the exorcist had landed on the floor and was holding his gut while he laughed.

"Fuck! That was golden! You should have fucking seen your face!"

"You asshole-!"

"Geez, calm the fuck down" Freed said once he stopped laughing "I ought to fucking kill you out of sheer principle, but you saved my life. Shit, I might be scum, but I'm not scum enough to put crap in the food of the fucking person that's the only reason I'm still living, breathing and shitting."

Murayama bit her lip as she stared at the strange man. There was so much going on that she didn't understand, she felt as though she had a reason to fear him, to despise him more than the norm, but yet, he hadn't done anything to her, at least directly, and she had never even met him before yesterday.

Yet…

"So what now?"

That was the question. What now? Would she turn him in to the police immediately? Would she let him stay in her house – the stupidity of doing something like that alone was ridiculous – or… what?

Murayama didn't know much about devils, despite her being one. What she did know however, is that it seemed human laws and conventions weren't applicable to the people who dealt in the supernatural realm. She had remembered how Freed had painlessly killed five men, despite the overwhelming advantages they had over him, and despite his sad, pitiful state… if he was fully healed, she doubted that not even the Special Forces or marines would be able to take him down.

"Five days."

"Say what?"

"I'm rarely ever home anyway so I'll let you stay here for five days. Nothing more, nothing less. Once those five days are up and you're still here, I'll turn you in."

"Huh, well now that's a fucking great de-"

"Wait." She rose one hand, "I'm not done. For those five days, you have to teach me how to fight like you do."

"The fuck?" Freed rose an eyebrow "I don't fucking hold back, and I fight to kill. Why the hell would you even want to fight like me?"

"I have my reasons."

The exorcist scoffed.

"Shit, I don't think I can teach a total fucking learner how to fight in five days. Hell, I don't even _want_ to do that shit."

"I'm not a _total_ learner. I'm a kendo champion, and I know basic judo and taekwondo."

Freed's eyebrows narrowed. "Kendo champion?"

"Is there a problem?"

"What's the fuck's your last name again?"

"I don't have one."

The man's gaze was eerily unnerving, and Murayama could feel the slight tension in the air.

"Well fuck, you're an orphan?"

"I might as well be."

The gaze continued, and for a few seconds, Murayama assumed that he might attack, instead the man simply shook his head.

"Well then, I guess that makes it fucking easier – might as well teach you some kendo tricks while I'm at it."

"You know kendo?"

"Let's just fucking say I'm good with my sword."

The kendo champion gave him a blunt stare "And that's the second thing. If you're going to stay here, you're going to have to call off the profanity."

"What?" Freed said with his tone falling into a snarl "No fucking wa- fuck!"

The exorcist swore as Murayama brought out a kendo stick hidden under the chair and poked him directly in the ribs with it.

"You bit- FUCK!" two more hard pokes to his ribs had the man's eyes stinging "Alright! Alright! I'll stop! Just fuc-freaking stop hitting me with that shi-stick!"

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?"

"Once I get better, I swear to fuck I'm going to poke you harder than you can ever imagine."

Murayama responded with another poke.

"BLOODY FUCKI-!"

Murayama sighed. It was going to be a long five days.

"I SWEAR TO FUCK! YOU- GAH! GODDAMNIT THAT HURTS!"

At the very least, he made good coffee.

~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

* * *

 ** _A/N:_ Ah, and it seems like I might be going down the Kishimoto style with the exorcist everyone loves to hate. In Canon Naruto, every single villian in the goddamned series is shown by Kishimoto that they can be redeemed and eventually turn into good guys. Am I doing that with Freed? Well, I suppose I plan on modelling him after Belkar from The Order of The Stick. But who knows just what his fate might be?**

 **And this is my first attempt at writing clean, direct comedy. If it you liked it, do tell me and I'll see if i can add omakes to the end of chapters later on. If it sucked, tell me anyway then I'll know to stick to writing either ecchi scenes or my usual brand of dark drama.**

 **Anyway, this chapter was brought due to the fact that a few reviewers pointed out that I might be speeding the plot, so I decided to add a comic relief chapter to counter-act that as well as add a slight element of joy to the heaviness always going on. Of course it still all relates to the plot and isn't filler, so there's the bonus.**

 **Next Chapter, we get back to the action of course, and the unfolding fate of Serafall Leviathan.**

 **Last chapter I mentioned that they'll be an anomaly who's a Naruto character, and several people were actually right on the money about who it was. Damn super-smart readers, taking away all my fun. Just when finally I introduce the Seven Deadly Sins. Four of them are Naruto Characters, but I'm sure they've already figured that out as well!**

 **Oh, and bonus points await to anyone who managed to get every single reference in this chapter!**

 **Merry Christmas in advance!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	21. Vertigo

**A/N: It's Christmas Eve! And I'm sure you were all expecting me not to update for a while yeah? Well I'm pumping out chapters faster than a shotgun cause I've got the holiday cheer! Lalalalala!**

 **Er-hem. Faster update speeds mean lack of proper time to cross-read though, so point out any errors you notice this chapter and I'll edit it right away! Like the last chapter where I typed "Jealousy" instead of "Greed", thank you guys for pointing that out!**

 **Oh, and only two reviewers realized that Naruto's half-crazy rambles were in fact, half-hints to who the seven were supposed to be. And not one person got it right! Haha! Finally feel good! What? I hate being predictable.**

 **And seeing as how this is a chapter so close to Xmas... it's a reveal chapter. So many of you guessed right identities, so many didn't bother, but oh well, now two anomalies are going to be unveiled at once. Aren't I swell?**

 **Have a Jolly Day and enjoy!**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 20:**

 **Vertigo**

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Yokai Realm**

 **Palace of Tails**

Two figures appeared in a flash of Yellow, appearing in what was an otherwise empty and ornate room, filled with posh furniture, a golden wine fountain, and all the numerous paraphernalia one could expect to find in a palace belonging to a king.

Naruto moved grabbed a goblet from an ornamented table filled to the brim with fruits, and proceeded to take out of the wine fountain, gulping down the maroon liquid as he began cursing silently under his breath. The other figure in the room simply raised his eyebrow in confusion and annoyance.

"Why did we have to leave Uzumaki? Between the two of us, we could have beaten those seven easily."

"It was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission Alucard, not a full on frontal assault."

"I know that. I'm still saying that we could have annihilated them easily." Alucard let a growl escape from his lips "I've only been to Las Diablos once, but last I recall, there were no guards there calling themselves the Seven Deadly Sins."

"No, they weren't. It's clear that Laharl has been overthrown and the Demon Country is now being run by someone else, the worst person I could ever imagine being in charge of an entire country of demons."

The Vampire frowned. "Laharl?"

"The former Demon King. The "Emperor" of the Demon Realm" Naruto said, slowly stirring his wine "He was an annoying, cocky and self-centered brat who wanted to take over the entire underworld."

"Such arrogance-"

"He was not to be underestimated Alucard. Despite his bratty attitude and obnoxious aura, he was incredibly strong and was one of the few people in the world that could fight me to a standstill. Hell, he would have beaten me had I not had Kurama's help and began using the tailed beasts' powers."

"And just who would be strong enough to actually beat him and take his place?"

"That's what bothers me. If it's the same person who created those Null Void runes… he shouldn't have been able to beat Laharl."

"So how?"

"I don't know. But what I do know, is that four of those seven deadly clowns were shinobi. They tried to suppress their chakra, but against a sensor of my level, they might have tried hiding an elephant behind a towel."

Naruto let out a long sigh before leaping onto a large waterbed.

Alucard stared at him in annoyance. "So what are we going to do Uzumaki? Serafall Leviathan is being held hostage by those arrogant Greek fools thus ruining any chance at uncovering Athena's plans or her champion, we got no closer to stopping the production of those seals that can hamper even your teleportation nor did we achieve our secondary reason for attempting to infiltrate Las Diablos."

"As much as I would also like to know why Rizevim Livan Lucifer was visiting Las Diablos…" Naruto blinked slowly "I don't care."

"You don't care about the odd fact that the only living son of Lucifer was visiting the Demon Realm?"

"Look Alucard, if you want to save Serafall, then go ahead. If you want to find out what Rizevim was doing at Las Diablos, then go ahead. Hell, if you want to tell Sirzechs about all this crap, then go ahead." The sage said with a yawn "I gave up all this politicking and espionage several thousand years ago when I stopped being Hokage. Why do you think I had Kurama take up the role of the Yokai king?"

Naruto grabbed a pillow and placed it on his stomach as he closed his eyes, ignoring the increasing levels of killing intent generating from his companion.

"So tell me what you're going to do Uzumaki? You're just going to roll over and go to sleep while the world burns?"

"Wouldn't be the first time."

There was the cold barrel of a gun against Naruto's forehead, and the Uzumaki frowned.

"Alucard?"

The sound of a bullet echoed through the room as blood and gray-matter splattered along the waterbed, and said bed instantly began leaking.

"The hell's wrong with you! I liked this bed! So many great memories happened on it you know!"

Naruto sat, ignoring the hole in his forehead which instantly healed, bone, tissue, and blood regenerating and leaving perfectly unmarred skin.

"You existence sometimes irritates me Uzumaki. You have so much power, you could possibly become the entire god of this universe if you wished to, yet all of it is wasted to pointless slothfulness."

Naruto groaned, smacking his hand into his face. "This bullshit again?" he said, shaking his head "Alucard, we've gone over this. Taking over the world is useless, all there is to do is just have mindless sex with all the women you could have, and gain all the pleasures you could ever want, and after a while do you know what happens? You get _bored_. Having everything you want is boring! _Paradise_ is boring! It's a more pathetic existence than what I'm currently enjoying!"

"You make it sound as though you're talking from experience."

Then there it was.

That spark. That overwhelming terror and presence that Alucard hadn't seen from the jovial blond in centuries. An overwhelming pressure hit the room, as though all at once, he had become Atlas and was tasked with holding the weight of the world.

Alucard found himself gritting his teeth as he was unable to withstand the pressure, and he fell to the ground, harder and harder, until his the pressure was making the ground weaken and crack beneath him.

The sage walked forward, twelve thick black orbs appeared behind him, orbiting him like they were planets and he was the sun, a burning brilliance coveted by their hollow darkness.

Naruto's purple rippled eyes had veins bulging, and it was as though he had suddenly applied sunset-tinted mascara.

Then his purple ringed pupils morphed to possess nine tomoe within them with a distinct horizontal bar.

" **I am."**

Then all at once, the overwhelming pressure was gone.

"W-what's going on here? Naruto-sama? Alucard-sama?"

Both men turned to the sight of a young voluptuous woman with blonde hair and equally matching eyes dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit.

"Ah Yasaka-chan!" in a blur of movement faster than either could follow, Naruto was behind the woman, and holding her in a suave manner with his left hand behind her back "There's nothing to worry yourself Yasaka-chan. Seeing a beauty such as yourself as left me aching with a desire to profess my love!"

"Naruto-sama! Should you really be trying to seduce your friend's wife?"

"Pft! What furball doesn't know won't hurt him," the sage said, wagging his eyebrows "I doubt he'll even be angry, he'll just be grumpy about the fact that he couldn't join in!"

"Naruto-sama!"

The No-Life King rose up from the ground, dusting off his clothes as he shook his head. Uzumaki Naruto was his friend, and companion, that had always remained true for the several millennia. But, he was not his equal.

They had never been equals.

After all, a monster could only be defeated by a man.

That was something he had always said to himself; but he wondered if the Uzumaki was even truly human to begin with.

"Where's Kurama anyway? Did he take Kunou on a trip to the other realms again? Hopefully he doesn't kill the next guy she gets a crush on… like that vampire guy, what was his name again?"

"You mean Edward?"

"Yeah, poor kid." Naruto shook his head "His glittering was annoying, but still, a Tailed Beast Ball up the rectum is no way to go."

Alucard shook his head at the memory. Admittedly, the boy was one of his least favorite member of his race, but his death was just sheer brutality. Like prisoner, like jailor he supposed.

"Well that's the thing, this morning someone sent a message to him, I don't know what it was about, but he stormed out and I haven't seen him since."

"That can't be good…"

Alucard let the gears in his head spin. Yes, for all of Naruto's "Devil-May-Care" attitude, the blond sage was still an incredibly masterful manipulator and not even he could stand it when there were events occurring outside of his knowledge, when there were things that he could not predict with some absurd ability of his.

Alucard possessed a form of Omnipresence allowing himself to be everywhere and nowhere all at once, and when he had originally gained this power, he had assumed himself to be invincible.

Until he realized he was not the only being with such ability, and there were techniques, runes, seals, and multiple methods of preventing and/or nullifying omnipresence, making the 'omni' seem to be a misnomer. This was why he simply could not enter into the illustrious but highly mythical Midas Complex, nor could he simply exist within the boundaries belonging to other gods and/or divine beings such as Olympus and Asgard.

It was also one of the reasons he could not find his daughter, due to her vicarious attempts at evading him.

Uzumaki had been one of the few people who had beat him without having to rely to such a trick, and the manner which he had been beaten made him feel as though the blond _could_ in fact, see into the future, despite his claims otherwise.

There was also the shady amount of connection that Naruto and Kurama had to the human boy, the Red Dragon Emperor, which made Alucard feel like he wasn't seeing the whole picture.

So at this very moment, Alucard was going to throw caution into the air and shift events. Naruto had told him to do as he wished, and so he would see how the blond would respond to events.

While 'Alucard' stood and listened to Naruto and Yasaka idly discuss about the whereabouts of the King of Yokai, 'Alucard' was also present in the dreams of a certain devil, in the hideout of a particularly nasty set of bounty hunters and in the home of a certain black-haired gamer.

A bloodthirsty smirk came on to his face and he hid it just as quickly as it appeared.

He was going to shake things up again.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ **DxD – Game of the Year Edition** ~~~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

DLC simply did not understand her Master.

Master was a fun and cheerful person, and he would be much more fun if he just let loose and enjoyed himself with her. But no. Her Master was a man of strong morals… or perhaps different tastes.

She had only been with him for less than a day, but she felt like she knew him for a lifetime. DLC was certain, that her Master was the greatest.

However, there were things she did not understand.

Her Master was smart. Insanely, ridiculously smart. His brain _could_ see and process information in _attoseconds_. Her Master could be running around the world at three times the speed of sound and Master would still be able to recognize, catalogue and remember the faces of everyone and everything that he saw.

Yet, her Master was actively restraining his intelligence. Her Master was actively making himself dumber, and was only utilizing about 20% of his true potential.

DLC didn't understand why.

Then there was the issue with this new… girl. Master seemed close enough with her, but DLC had instantly begun getting annoyed when she had began hitting Master and Master just stayed there and took it all laughing.

Her Master was easy-going and took it all as comedy, but her Master did not realize that if the gender roles were reversed, what was happening to him was horrific.

So what if Master had stripped her clothes? That didn't guarantee her the privilege to begin beating up her Master.

And it hurt that Master was so kind to let her continue doing it.

No! DLC made her decision. She would not let her Master's kindness be exploited by anyone.

She had leaped out of his pocket expanding in size before activating her adhesive powers.

"Dil-chan, what are you – mmph!"

"Save your strength Master! I'll protect you!"

She engulfed her Master in protective, iron-thick layer of Slime as he tried to say something, before she turned to her target.

Master had already made the girl tired from letting her beat him, so she found it much easier to restrain the girl. DLC felt that the girl deserved to be punished for hitting her Master, but she didn't want to hurt the girl or her Master would be angry.

DLC remembered a dream that Master had once had, and decided that she would use it to punish the one that had offended her master.

DLC instead turned to her original slime body and activated her Aphrodisiac juices which began slithering all around the girl's form. DLC moved her hands and the soapy, warm like fluids went had lost began groping, rubbing, squeezing, twisting, turning, clutching, gripping, clasping, and seizing every part of the girl's body.

Despite her Master's thoughts and opinions about her, DLC didn't actually understand what was stimulating about her. She was designed, or created to be sexually pleasing, but she had no idea as to what sexual pleasure was, and that was why she had tried experiencing her first time with Master.

Master didn't agree to it though. So DLC would just randomly feel a strange urge to want to please herself, but she didn't know why.

DLC knew about human arousal, but still didn't understand why the girl was moaning and gasping and panting so loudly, why her nipples had turned pink and were standing hard and erect, why her lower regions were getting drenched nor why she felt Master get a srong bulge in his pants, but she felt good and it was making her Master look happy.

DLC felt good, and her Master felt good, so her slime covered the girl, it went to work on her body. It travelled over, under, around, between, across and beside. DLC made sure she would be leaving no part of the girl untouched by her hot, honey-like slime.

All that remained was _inside_.

DLC wasn't sure what hole was the right one, but before she could make the choice, the girl had shuddered madly while being held by her slimy tentacles, and passed out, with liquids trailing down her legs.

Then all at once, she felt Master freeze her solid.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Territory**

Rias had one of the most aggressive baths she had ever had in her entire life as she tried to both calm down herself and let go of everything that had happened.

After the initial stage of guilt, of depression and sadness that followed her fight with Sona, she had been hit instead with an overwhelming sense of anger.

The nerve. The sheer and utter nerve of them. Of all of them. Manipulating her, tricking her, and doing it all with a smile on their faces as though there was nothing in the world to it.

Now, she had to let Hyoudou continue whatever asinine plan he had. Denying him the right to end her Marriage Proposal counted as her breaching the contract, in which she would end up forfeiting her soul either way.

Rias stopped sponging herself and let herself soak for in the hot water for a few seconds, absent-mindedly wishing that Akeno were there to sponge her… She had been so angry and upset that she had kicked all the wash-maidens out. The Gremory heiress then remembered that there was the fact that Akeno's advances had become more and more prominent as of late, and she'd probably just get molested instead. The way her Queen knew all the right spots that would leave her short of breath and feeling a pleasurable warmth between her legs was just astonishing. And slightly disconcerting.

Rias loved Akeno, but she did so as her friend, a sister. Pursuing a romantic relationship with Akeno was impossible, and she could never even imagine seeing the girl in such light, but at the same time, there was the fact that Akeno just might have thoughts of otherwise in her head.

Rias frowned. Not that it would matter if she eventually got married to Rizer. To become one of the numerous girls in that bastard's harem was just annoying, because it was clear from the way he used them that a part of him didn't even realize that they were human.

Hyoudou was supposed to come up with a way to annul the marriage. If he was unable to do so, his soul became hers and she could add him to become a member of her peerage.

But this was the guy that had the whole world believing that Sona could chop off Kokabiel's head in a one-on-one battle. She highly doubted that doing something as meager as stopping an arranged marriage would even take him a day to pull off.

Just when she had started to think that Issei wasn't such a bad person. That in the end, she would have gained valuable experience from the events. Who knew what was and what wasn't the boy's own attempts and twisting tunes to his favor, since he had miraculously gained the Boosted Gear overnight, he began pulling different tricks and stunts that she didn't and couldn't even explain.

Wait a minute.

That was true. How _did_ Issei manage to create a pocket dimension? How _did_ he have control over shadows? How _did_ he know so much about devil contracts?

Half of the things he could do, he claimed he could do so because the Boosted Gear also fundamentally increased not just his physical attributes, but his mental ones as well, giving him enhanced intelligence.

But Rias had never heard of the Boosted Gear ever being able to do such before. Never. Not once. For if such were the case, then it would mean that the Divine Dividing halved other people's intelligence and added it to the user, which was, ridiculous and quite frightening.

Rias let herself stand from the bath. There was more to Hyoudou Issei than met the eye. A part of him he was keeping benignly a secret.

Yes, all of this had started with Hyoudou, and Rias wouldn't be surprised if she found out that the boy was simply manipulating Sona in the end. It was the only explanation… it was the only reason why Sona would have called off their friendship.

Hyoudou Issei was up to something dangerous.

She wasn't going to stop until she found out what.

* * *

~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

"I'm sorry Master."

"It's okay, you've apologized enough, and I'm not the one you really should be apologizing to anyway."

DLC nodded, slowly. "Is Master angry at Dil-chan?"

"No… Yes… Er, let's just pretend it didn't happen."

Issei sighed to himself as he piggy-backed the unconscious Koneko, who apparently could not survive the full brunt of DLC's erotic ministrations, and had been unconscious ever since her unexpected… _releases_. Yes, _plural_.

"Funny how she looks so cute and innocent when she's asleep."

Letting Koneko go around hitting him for stripping her clothes was probably for the best, at least, before she got slimed. She was indisputably beautiful, and he had no qualms telling her that even as she broke his ribs ten times over. In hindsight, the Gamer just realized the sheer overwhelming potential Energy Masochism possessed to be utterly over-powered. If he maxed out the skill, he could go against some of the most dangerous females in the world, and all of their attacks would be rendered null and useless against him.

Sadly, it leveled at a _ridiculously_ slow pace to counter-act its op-ness. Despite having being rained down by punches and hits from Koneko, it had only leveled up four times, hitting level five and making his damage conversion from females to 5%.

So if he received say, 1000 damage, he would regain 50MP/CK/DM/LM or HP for that hit. It meant that once he got the skill to 100%, attacks from females would only _add_ to his HP instead of reducing. It didn't matter if it was a slap or a one hit death beam, he would be immune to damage.

He had believed this to be the way to defeat figures such as Death and Ophis, until he remembered that those two were actually Genderless, and only took the form of females. They could easily turn into a male or genderless entity to fight him and he'd be screwed.

The same applied with goddesses – who could in fact, morph their forms to the opposite gender.

Still, it was a tremendously useful skill to have.

Issei made a mental note to try to find a way to create more skills of similar nature, or creating DoT skills – damage over time – which would make for an impressive offensive arsenal. He also needed some more AoE skills as well, with Fireball and Frost Flare being the major two he currently had in his possession.

He felt Koneko squirm on his back and let out a soft shudder as she got more comfortable in the oversized wool sweater and long stockings.

She was most likely going to be traumatized by anything remotely slimy or tentacle-shaped once she woke up.

"Thanks for getting clothes for Koneko."

"It's the least Dil-chan could to help." The slime said "Master is a pervert, but he is honorable. I thought Master was enjoying Dil-chan's performance."

Well he _was_ , but at the same time, he had to remember that Koneko was still younger than him and he had the distinct feeling that Koneko would be pissed. That is, if she could ever look him in the eye again with knowledge that he had seen her naked and… watched her… _discharge_ , multiple times.

On second thought, she might simply clear out the awkward air by trying to beat him up again.

"Will master now use Dil-chan for more fun things?"

Issei thought it over. Ironically, Koneko had called him out for suppressing his true nature, and Issei was getting sick of it, truthfully. Though with two sociopathic voices in his head, and a horny-but-oblivious slime-girl familiar, he was afraid of really letting loose… but, in the end, he figured that going through life suppressing his desires was just going to make everything explode at one point, sooner or later. It was best for him to let it out in small, concentrated doses before that happened.

So he decided to open up the Familiar screen and re-examine DLC.

 **DLC Lv. 97**

 **Class: Familiar [Legendary]**

 **Species: Slime/Slime-Girl**

 **Master: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Alignment: True Neutral**

 **HP: 97000/97000**

 **MP: 55000/55000**

 **Strength: 103**

 **Vitality: 319**

 **Dexterity: 442**

 **Intelligence: 107**

 **Wisdom: 90**

 **Luck: 169**

 **Charisma** **:** **491**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

 **[Available Skills/Abilities]**

 **Physical Damage Resistance** **Lv. Max**

 **Fire Resistance** **Lv. Max**

 **Demonic Magic Damage Resistance** **Lv. Max**

 **Holy Magic Damage Resistance** **Lv. Max**

 **High-Speed Regeneration** **Lv. Max**

 **Corrosion Mastery** **Lv. Max**

 **Adhesion Mastery** **Lv. Max**

 **Lubrication Mastery** **Lv. Max**

 **Poison Mastery** **Lv. Max**

 **Aphrodisiac Mastery** **Lv. Max**

 **Shape-Shifting** **Lv. Max**

 **Density Shifting** **Lv. Max**

 **Invisibility** **Lv. Max**

"You can turn invisible? And shift your density?"

"Yes Master, it makes me a quite dangerous slime-girl if you ever want me to go hunting."

Issei shook his head. "Is there anything you _can't_ do?"

"Dil-chan cannot get Master to have sex with her, no matter how hard she tries."

Issei slightly shuddered, remembering the crazed, hungry look in the slime-girl's eyes when they fought, and how she had melted off his trousers and –

No. No. No. Number one rule of that fight, is that it did not happen.

It did not happen.

'Maybe there's a skill I got from Jashin that can delete memories.' Issei thought.

As he finally opened his Jashinist Techniques skill set.

 **Jashinist Techniques** **[Active & Passive] Lv. Max**

 **A collection of skills and abilities granted upon you by the Carnality God Jashin, which allow you to manipulate not only the blood, but the carnal natures and desires of your opponents. Passively Grants +50% Effectiveness to "Instinctiveness" and Grants +100% Effectiveness to All Five Senses.**

 **Note: Extra Skills for this Skill Tree may be Unlocked, Discovered or Created.**

 **Blood Voodoo** **[Active] Lv. 1: Also known as the Cursed Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood. This turns you into a living Voodoo doll, and any damage you receive is also received on your opponent. This however, can also be used for pleasurable purposes, in that shared connection between individuals to double and experience utterly different sensations. At Max levels, you can connect up to twenty people at once with this technique, and only need to shed blood rather than ingest it for it to work.**

 **Blood Impulse** **[Active] Lv. Max: This enables you to tap into the deepest, darkest and most pleasurable or sinful desire of your target, and unlock any inhibition preventing them from accomplishing it, or do the opposite and prevent them from acting on their desires. When used on a battlefield, your enemies will forgo all form of logic and perform the most heinous and sickening acts. When used in the bedroom, you can guarantee either very kinky or very twisted sex.**

 **Blood Marionette** **[Active] Lv. 1: Unlike Blood Voodoo in which experiences are shared, Blood Marionette enables you to manipulate the blood of your foes, either slowing it down or speeding it up within their body, or clumping it to torture them and even control them. At max levels, you can boil or freeze their blood for instant death.**

 **Blood Clone** **[Active] Lv. 1: You sacrifice 50% of your current available health to create a solid, tangible clone of yourself. The clone does not possess autonomy, and you must control it mentally, but can experience the world through the clones' eyes, ears and nose. Once the clone is killed, the body will last at least four hours before evaporating. At Max Levels, the health requirement is reduced, you can create more clones and grant the clones autonomy.**

 **Carnality Incarnate [Active]:** **The ultimate skill to prove your dedication to Lord Jashin. Simply releasing your aura will cause every sentient creature within a two-hundred mile radius to either engage in a brutal, chaotic massacre, or a wild, erotic orgy. [** **LOCKED** **] – Requires Attaining Max Level in All Jashinist Skill Trees. Requires Chaotic Evil Alignment.**

The Gamer had mused them over, shaking his head at the skills. There were some rather decent ones… but still, what else could he have expected from a god like Jashin?

Though he couldn't deny that Mittelt's whole Sexlock idea thing was still at the back of his mind, even though it had started as a gag, now he realized the potential benefits, as all skills which were supposedly made for perverted purposes, had seriously lethal uses.

"Master has droned off again."

Issei blinked. "Sorry."

"Master didn't answer. Can Dil-chan be used for more fun things?"

The Gamer mused it over, his mind still picturing Koneko's extremely aroused expressions before he found himself gigging.

"Sure why not? Slime whoever you feel like whenever you feel like."

"Really mast– "

"On second thought," Issei said, in a flat deadpan "Don't do that. Knowing you, you might just start sliming everyone."

"Dil-chan won't do that! Dil-chan is a good girl master!"

"Sorry, but I'm not falling for that after you almost took Koneko's v –"

 **Danger Detected!**

 **Killing Intent Detected!**

Issei grimaced as he walked up the steps to his destination, finding the source of the potential large amount of hatred being directed his way in the form of the beautiful woman dressed in a traditional shrine maiden's outfit.

 **The Priestess of Thunder**

 **Akeno Himejima Lv. 59**

The young woman sported a smile. A calm, serene smile which made it seem as though all was well, and as though she was kindly inviting Issei into her home.

The Gamer knew better.

"Hyoudou-san, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

The Gamer had the general idea as to why she disliked him, but he supposed it would be better to find out directly, as he cast a subtle Observe.

 **Name: Akeno Himejima**

 **Level: 59**

 **Title: The Priestess of Thunder**

 **Race: Devil/Fallen Angel Hybrid**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 6900/6900**

 **DM: 9000/9000**

 **Strength: 34**

 **Vitality: 102**

 **Dexterity: 55**

 **Intelligence: 69**

 **Wisdom: 60**

 **Luck: 23**

 **Charisma: 90**

 **Current Status Effects: None.**

 **Current Emotions: Irritation, Loathing, Suspicion**

 **Bio: Born as the only child of Shuri Himejima, a Shinto priestess, and Baraqiel, a Cadre Class Fallen Angel, Akeno experienced despair early in her childhood once her mother was killed, blaming her father for not being able to protect her. She wandered the Japan at the age of 10, without food or money, using her skills from her mother to purify evil spirits in order to survive. Her luck changed later on when she is saved from the Himejima clan members who wanted to kill her due to her Fallen Angel blood by the Gremory clan. She has forever remained Rias' faithful Queen and servant, and will go above and beyond for her, even if it means death.**

 **Current Affairs: After brushing death in her fight against Kokabiel, and after Rias left for the Underworld without taking her, Akeno has begun to doubt her strength and self-worth, even more so once Rias handed you de facto authority over her peerage, a role usually reserved for the Queen.**

 **Views: Akeno dislikes you immensely for manipulating herself and Rias as unwitting pawns in your scheme.**

 **Dating Mode Miscellaneous Info: Akeno has the largest breast size of any female you know, at a whooping 102cm (40 in.) She is also secretly a closet sadist who enjoys inflicting and receiving varying levels of pain. So don't be afraid to be as rough as you can!**

Issei sighed, ignoring the notification that said Observe had gone up by one level because it already confirmed most of what he had assumed anyway.

"Himejima-sempai, I'm just here to drop off Koneko-chan. She wore herself out with me and I have no idea as to where she lives."

"Ara ara, she _wore_ herself out now did she?"

Her smile seemed to stretch on even further.

"Yes… we were… training."

" _Training_?"

"Yes. I was training her stamina and strength by having her attack me as many times as she could before she ran out of energy."

 _Ping!_

 **For the excellent use of half-truths to convey across your message, Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

"Ara ara, and you just stood there and let _her_ hit you?"

She was a Rook. The base damage she kicked out was insane, but over time, her hits started declining, and declining, and Issei realized that his Steel Skin perk was evolving. The more hits he took from a particular form of damage, the more he became resistant to that form of damage, much like how steel was forged by striking the metal while it was hot. So eventually, all of Koneko's hits started doing only **-5HP** damage. This was probably also the reason why his  Energy Masochist has leveled up so slowly.

If DLC had known that she wasn't actually hurting him - not really anyway - the familiar wouldn't have slimed her.

"Don't worry about me Himejima-sempai. I'm far sturdier than I look."

Akeno stared at him for the longest of time, her face still crinkled in a smile, before it seemed that she made a form of deal with herself.

"Very well Hyoudou-san, you may come in. Koneko-chan has been staying with me until Kuoh Academy is rebuilt."

The Gamer nodded, meticulously climbing up the stairs before he found himself in a humble, peaceful looking house that seemed to exemplify the motion that simplicity was the new intricacy.

Issei placed Koneko into one of the spare rooms with two futons and a weird cardboard box located in the corner, before he walked out.

"My, leaving so soon Hyoudou-san? Does my presence displease you that much?"

The Gamer let off a smooth smile. "The opposite actually, being in such a confined space with such a beautiful woman is far too much temptation, and I must leave lest I give in to my carnal instinct."

 _Ping!_

 **For somehow finding a way to utter the truth, yet make it sound false, Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

"Ara ara, at the very least I do believe you can restrain yourself to stay for a cup of tea?"

Issei thought it over. On one hand, he wanted to get Akeno to like him, on the other, he had so much things he still had to do today. Glancing at his newly acquired wristwatch, and noting that it was just past noon, the Gamer let himself sigh.

"I suppose I can."

He sat, and he could tell that Akeno was impressed not only by his posture, but by the sheer meticulousness and smoothness of his entire demeanor. He thanked Assassin's Grace for that, as he watched the young devil pour the tea, his eyes from Perfect Vision memorizing the exact mixing recipe, and his enriched sense of smell enjoyed the aroma far more pleasantly than he should have otherwise.

He collected the cup, and slowly, gracefully drank out of it.

 **Drinking Jasmine Tea! [Soul Food]!**

 **Grants 5HP Regen per second for One hour.**

Issei blinked at the notification, almost all but forgetting about how food could grant buffs. It was a good thing he stole her recipe, because he was going to make as many as he could and store it in his inventory.

Regardless of that, Issei decided that it was about time to let the cat out of the bag.

"It's quite good." He said, slowly nodding "I had almost assumed that you were trying to poison me."

Akeno's smile didn't even falter.

"Oh my, now why would you assume something like that Hyoudou-san?"

Issei took in a deep breath.

 **Neutral Response Selected!**

"It's obvious from your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"You love Rias."

The smile _did_ falter and Issei was responded with Akeno's face morphing into one of surprise for a brief second, before she put it back on.

"Excuse me?"

Issei gently twirled the tea, taking a calm sip.

"The only reason there would be so much hate in those eyes for me, is due to the amount of love that spurns for someone else. In this case, Rias."

Akeno's smile seemed to stretch on.

"Of course I do, Rias is my friend, my sister, my king–"

"Not _that_ type of love." Issei said, dismissing those words "You _love_ her, in the physical sense. As Samson loved Delilah, as Romeo loved Juliet, as Anthony loved Cleopatra –"

"Is there a particular reason that you mention examples which are well known tragedies?"

Issei gently took sipped more of his tea.

"Because we both know how it'll end. We both know the two of you can never have an open relationship. Ever."

Akeno's grip on her tea seemed to have tightened.

"And what would make you say that?"

"She's the heiress of a powerful pure-blooded devil clan. Even once I do end her arranged marriage with Riser Phenix, there'll still be pressure on her to get married and engaged to someone who she can continue the bloodline with." Issei said, raising his hands as he began pointing down fingers "And even if the issue of reputation wasn't a factor, Rias simply doesn't see you in a romantic light. _You_ know this, and of course you won't push your friend away and risk sacrificing what you have now in an attempt to attain what might never be."

The tea cup shattered.

The room was left with nothing but the slow whistling of a kettle and the ever persistent sips taken as the Gamer connected his tea with his lips.

"Ara ara, and you wonder why I hate you Hyoudou-san?" she said, with her voice turning from sweet to bitter "To just sit there and emotionlessly take someone else's dreams and rip them asunder without a single shred of emotion on your face, how does it even feel?"

"When I had planned my contract for Rias, I had fully expected you to call in reinforcements from Sirzechs or at the very least report the situation to Grayfia Lucifuge."

" _What_?" The sudden twist in topic had sent the girl reeling and more than suspicious for a few seconds.

"It seemed that I underestimated your affection for Rias, and you were more willing to die with her on a battlefield than you were willing to risk earning her hatred should she live and have her soul bound to me."

"I would rather that Rias died free than become your slave for you to pleasure as you wish."

"I will not begrudge the fact that Rias is beautiful, but beyond my appreciation of her beauty, I have no feelings nor ill will towards her." Issei said, seriously "And I am not the type of person to force myself onto a girl." _At least not intentionally_.

Akeno found her body trembling, and she knew that he was right – so why, why had he included that clause in the contract?

"Rias becoming my slave would only be in name, I would let her do as she pleased and would never force her to do anything demeaning." Issei paused, twirling his tea once more, before taking another sip "But however, due to my status as being her master, there would be no political backlash resulting from her to accepting your advances. If anyone questions it the excuse will be that I, Hyoudou Issei, the sick and deranged pervert wished for her to become your sexual partner and she could not refuse."

"You fail to understand that if she became your slave, she would lose everything. The respect of her family, her entire peerage, her status as an heiress! She would have nothing but-"

" _You_."

The whistling of the kettle was deafening.

Akeno did not realize when she had stumbled back and fell on her butt, forgoing all pretense of elegance as her eyes gazed into the black orbs of the being that laid in front of him.

Akeno had thought that she had seen the worst the world had to offered, but this boy… no this man…

No. He wasn't a man.

He was _the_ devil.

"You _are_ sick Hyoudou."

"Am I?" Issei said with a chuckle "Koneko-chan told me to be more open, to express my desires and thoughts rather than suppress them. But I just realized, the thoughts which flow through my head are enough for me to be classified as a psychopath. My ability to manipulate people and events down a line makes devils' schemes seem like a child trying to complete a to-do list."

The boy dropped his empty cup down on the table, before walking forward, and crouching in front of Akeno.

"At times I wonder if I'm simply not just manipulating everyone and everything..."

The Gamer stared into empty space.

"I am a pervert who craves to have sex, yet at the same time, I wish to leave no broken hearts. I hunger after their flesh, yet thirst for their souls. I fancy myself a playboy, yet, find myself a hopeless romantic."

Issei shook his head. Now was not the time to work out his own issues.

"Nonetheless, I believe my motives are pure, and that is the only thing stopping me from becoming a total and complete monster. But you –"Issei regarded Akeno with his sternest look "You Akeno-chan, tell me, do you think you can hide your love for Rias as the years go by? Do you think you'll be able to stand it if she marries off to some random devil who simply has her as one of the many girls in his endless harem? Would you be satisfied watching the woman you love be reduced to nothing more than an object to be used and discarded as seen fit?"

Akeno grit her teeth, she could endure it all because she would never leave Rias' side.

"Yes."

Issei blinked, his head swaying to the side.

"Then you do not love her."

 **Neutral Response Selected! Gained 250 EXP!**

Akeno was trembling at this point, and the Gamer let his hand go over his hair as he realized that she was having trouble accepting the truth.

But it was the truth.

If she was willing to sacrifice not only her happiness, but the happiness of Rias in the name of love… then that _wasn't_ love. That wasn't the type of sacrifice love required.

"Why- why are you telling me all this?" Akeno asked "Even your plan, you set it up to be in my favor… why?"

"Because… No one deserves unrequited love."

The two sat, in silence, and for a while, it seemed as though Akeno had all but forgotten of her previous hatred of the teen.

"So, is this the part where you make a suave confession to me Hyoudou-san?"

"No. Not yet."

Akeno blinked.

"N-not yet?"

"I still have a lot to learn Akeno-chan, and I want it that when I do utter those three magic words to you – to _anyone_ – I want to mean it."

It was quite surprising realizing that Akeno could get flustered like a normal teenage girl. "Y-you know I love Rias, but still you –"

Issei let a melancholic smile color his lips "You see, I told you that no one deserves unrequited love. But at the same time, the sad truth is that if love was accepted by everyone to whom it was given… it would have no value."

The two sat, gazing at each other, before Akeno let herself fall into a small fit of giggles.

"Ara ara, truly Hyoudou-san, just look at us, sounding so dreary over all this _love_ business." she said with a laugh "Love. What is love?"

"Baby don't hurt me."

Akeno blinked.

Issei blinked back.

And it would be the oddest scene, when Koneko would awake and find the two black haired teenagers, rolling on the floor in fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Perhaps, never realizing that what they sought was right under their very noses.

Right up until the nekomata remembered how she had gotten unconscious in the first place and proceeded to chase a very happy Gamer all around Kuoh.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Sitri Territory**

"Will I live to regret this decision I wonder?"

Sona buried her face into her pillow as she contemplated herself.

Was it right to have ended her friendship the way she had done so? Could she, in her good spirits let it wave like that?

Rias was her friend. Her _only_ friend. Her only _real_ friend if she did not count Seekvaira. Despite how shaky their friendship was, it was one that she could count on in a jiffy.

It was beyond stupid to lose a friendship after one fight.

Sadly, Sona knew that she would have had to break up their friendship sooner or later. She would have preferred it to have been over amicable terms, over a long understanding conversation.

Not to have over sixteen years of wonderful memories shattered by brutally spoken words and an offensive physical attack.

Rias just didn't get it.

Sona was doing this, all of this, because she wanted to gain respect and _power_. She wanted to gain strength, and to do so in the Underworld was to cast aside any notion of humanity she might have once possessed. Devils, no matter the sheer beauty that was hidden beyond their faces, were first and foremost, creatures of manipulation and desire.

She had to play the game with the big leagues in the devil world, and Rias, Rias was her friend, and someone she could trust with her life, but the girl didn't have the cold-blooded heart to make it big in the underworld. Her dreams were small and her goals even smaller.

The things that needed to be done could not have been done by her friend. She was an optimist, a brighter shade on the darkest days, and best deserved to be used as an example of the fact that even devils had kindness.

Sona however, knew that the road she was walking down would lead to the exact opposite.

It was for the best. She didn't want to corrupt Rias, didn't want to ruin her vision of the world. The girl didn't even know about the Devil Underworld that sold human parts on a _wholesale_ basis. She didn't know about the numerous trafficking rings and sting operations. She didn't know about the vicious and ruthless slave-trades, and the numerous atrocities that happened every single day.

If she did, there was no way she would remain the same.

Lost in her thoughts was she, that the girl did not even realize when her own mind had begun drifting up to sleep against her own will.

By the time her eyes had snapped open, she found herself dressed in her gown, but no longer on her bed, instead, she stood at a tall mountain overlooking a part of the underworld she had never even seen before.

"W-what's going on?"

A man appeared behind her, and she turned instantly, a blade of water appearing in her hands to try and strike, only for the attack to be blocked with a single finger.

"Stay your blade. If I intended to do you harm, you'd already be kissing Death."

She recognized him on sight. It was hard not to considering that the man in front of her was essentially the boogeyman of the Underworld.

"You're… the No-Life King…"

"Yes I am."

Sona's head was turning. Tsubasa had mentioned that Issei had a run in with the Ultimate Vampire, but hadn't gone into much detail, so had he come to kidnap her as some sort of hostage?

"No, you're not a hostage."

Sona reeled. "You can read my mind?"

"I don't need to in order to guess what you were thinking."

The answers were short, straight to the point, but they still conveyed across their messages.

"Is this a dream?"

"Yes and no. You are asleep, but the location we are in and the events happening around us are real."

"I don't understand –"

"You're sister has been taken prisoner by the Greek Faction."

The words pierced her chest like cold, sharp, steel.

"W-what?"

"I'll bring you up to speed as quickly as I can," Alucard said "Long story short, the Underworld is at the brink of war with the Greek Faction, and your sister, being a Satan, had been sent on a reconnaissance mission to Olympus. The mission failed, and she was taken hostage."

Her sister… her cheerful, upbeat sister, the strongest female devil… captured and held prisoner?

No. No. No. No.

Sona took in a long, deep breath, feeling her chest expand to the maximum capacity before she let all the air out.

"Why am I here?"

Alucard gestured a hand on his lips "To watch. Quietly."

Sona blinked, and she stared down at a scene which unfolded beneath them.

A man ran down the streets of the blood red skies of the underworld. His breaths were ragged, his slender chest heaving up and down in rhythmic disharmony. His body shivered as his legs performed a rapid dialogue against the pavement, all the while, his mind remained in a state of delirium, unable to comprehend reality, unable to handle the crushing reality that had stripped aside his beliefs like a deranged rapist would a young maiden. His jet-black wings which previously shone with the exuberance of mid-night had become as dull as the pregnant clouds in the sky, both mocking and pitying him as they appeared ready to release their essence unto the world.

"Is that-"

"I said _quietly._ "

The man began cursing and yelling to himself.

"Impossible… I… defeated… Impossible… Impossible!" Yet, he realized bitterly, despite the barking orders of his pride to stand and fight against any who would dare face him, dare face the son of the original Lucifer, despite his ego who yelled into his ears that he had shamed his very lineage, he had taken the name of Lucifer and smeared it in mud, and proceeded to piss all over it, and drag it through dog shit, his feet and instincts to survive won the mental debate with little effort, and as such, he fled – quite literally – with his tail in between his legs.

Not that it made any difference.

Rizevim Van Lucifer gasped as he felt a bolt of godly energy pierce his shoulder, ripping through flesh, bone, tissue and cartilage like it was made of the poorly woven cotton of a colonial-slave child. The bolt was considered holy and as such it burnt him as it tore through him, leaving him cursing as he crashed against the floor. He got up, but just barely, only to widen his eyes as a sandaled foot smashed into his face with enough force to break his neck, generating a miniature shockwave that launched the devil into the air, tumbling head over heels over the ground before he came to harsh stop as he slammed into a wall and coughed up a glob of blood as his ribs pierced into his lungs and his organs ruptured like a tightly squeezed water balloon.

He fell to the ground, barely able to raise his teary, blurry gaze upwards to notice the being in front of him. She was draped royally in a translucent white robe which emanated the presence of divinity, she was endowed with mammary glands of such proportions that women all over the world would kill or could be killed for. She had dark hair that possessed far more luster than the wings of any devil, resonating with godly limelight that gave it a sheen that made the glow of the gates of heaven seem like a dim, faulty light-bulb. Her eyes cast a dispassionate gaze unto his form as she walked on the very air like as though it were a staircase.

"Measly bat, do you not realize just how outmatched you are here? You might be the son of some big named devil in your religious faction, but you are ultimately nothing but a small fish in a vast ocean." Her voice was smooth and oily, sounding more like she was simply talking about the weather than like she was giving him a verbal beating.

"I am R-Rizevim Van Lucifer…! You will not… underestimate me!" the defeated devil coughed out blood and was barely able to attempt to charge a bolt of energy from his hand before it was brutally ripped off with a simple kick from the goddess's sandaled foot and shot off into the air with a sonic boom.

"AAARGH! MY HAND!" he roared out in pain as blood rushed out from the now brutally open appendage, further sharply increasing the rate of his bloodloss.

"Admittedly, to be able to obtain the Blood of Samael means you are somewhat impressive for your species. Alas, the most talented rat in a whole pack of rodents is still just that – a rat." The goddess sighed as she floated towards the man and levitated him up to her eye level with a single flick of her wrist.

Sona's eyes widened to indiscernible levels, but she obeyed Alucard and kept shut. The Blood of Samael… that was the one thing fatal to most, if not all dragons. Her mind couldn't help but worry about Issei for a brief second.

"Now, disclose to me the location of the Blood. I have already killed your comrades, Astaroth, Beelzebub and Leviathan. None of them possessed it. That leaves only you. Now, tell me where it is?"

Rizevim Lucifer for all his bravado, paled rapidly open realizing that this goddess had already eliminated everyone in his group. He saw it clearly in her eyes, she had no reason to lie to him. For once, his pride melted away like a lone snowflake in the sands of the Sahara and he found himself willing to trade. "Will you kill me if I tell you?"

The goddess smiled and showed benevolence on her part "I swear on the River Styx. I will not kill you if you tell me who has the Blood of Samael."

As though verifying her words, a flash of lightning appeared over the sky, as the oath was registered and verified by the River. The clouds darkened even more, and the winds blew forcefully. No one knew why it rained in this part of the Underworld, but nonetheless, the cool presence of the weather helped to soothe the son of Lucifer.

A tranquil calm came over Rizevim, as he knew that Greek Gods could not break their oaths sworn to the River Styx without grave consequences. "I-I came to the Demon Realm to barter it. I handed it over to the Leader of the Demon Faction."

The Goddess scrunched up her nose in distaste "What in the world could be valuable enough to be worth trading with the Blood of Samael?"

Rizevim simply coughed "Information regarding the location of the Vineyard of Paradise. I wanted the one place known as The Ethereal Nirvana. The place containing countless artifacts of old, the place where a million Longinus are said to be hidden within its Vaults."

The goddess's eyes widened in disbelief "You don't mean?"

Rizevim gave a bloody grin "Yes. I traded Samael's blood to gain the Location of Eden."

Sona's head was whirling from trying to keep up with all that was going on. Eden? Eden was lost! The Vault of Heaven was lost! How could anyone know where it was?

The Greek goddess's goals switched rapidly "Speak bat! You will tell me now, where is Eden?"

"I don't know." Rizevim managed to mutter out, his words becoming more and more slurred by the minute from the loss of blood. "The Leader of the Demon Faction… he tricked me. He gave me the location, fulfilling his side of the bargain, but as soon as he did, one of his servants erased it from my memory."

"I see." The goddess sighed as she turned around. "It seems I have a new target, the leader of Demons."

Rizevim dropped to the floor with a pained gasp, as he stared at the motionless form of the goddess with a sense of dread.

"I thank you for that piece of information. However, you have outlived your usefulness."

As though it were the signal of his execution, a boom of thunder echoed across the sky, and Rizevim was barely able to let out a strained gasp as he felt two large blades pierce through his back and rip his lungs. He could not make out the image of his attacker as he was cloaked in a white robe but it was clearly obvious that he was a servant of the goddess.

"You… bitch… you swore you wouldn't kill me…" he rasped out.

The goddess sported a coy smile "I always keep my word bat, I swore that I wouldn't kill you and I didn't. I however never said anything about my subordinate."

Realizing that he had been played not once, but twice by two beings on different scales of the world, a god and a demon, Rizevim Van Lucifer could do nothing but let out a pained scream in his final moments, before he spotted the blade that descended from above him and neatly sliced through his neck, separating his head from his body in a neat, near-flawless decapitation. Slowly, light droplets of water fell from the skies, as though the underworld mourned the loss of a once notable devil.

The goddess smiled as she noticed the devil's body turn to ash and disintegrated into nothingness as a side effect of her subordinate's divinely blessed weapon.

She did not have any personal vendetta against the Judeo-Christian religion, nor did she honestly approve of Hades' plans, and generally she fought for a just cause as she was the Goddess of Justice. However, this time, it was war. The Vampire Faction had attacked and killed several of Artemis's hunters, in Greece no less. It was a blatant declaration of war, as for what other reason would vampires be in Greece if not searching for trouble? Her demigod daughter had been amongst the hunters killed, and the goddess actually cared about her, despite how little the amount of time she spent with her. She had been roused for war since then, and now, it was personal. With her actions, the stage had been set for the battle to begin, for the greatest war in the history of _existence_ to finally commence.

Of course, as the Greek Goddess of War, she could not help but be slightly excited.

In that slight moment of distraction, she failed to sense the killing intent focused on her. A bolt of lightning streaked through the sky, blinding her for a second in which she turned to her left to spot several white, bone-like bullets directly in front of her face. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the bullet hovered directly in front of her eyes, mere nanoseconds from piercing her orbs of vision and tearing through her skull.

With literal godly agility, she was able to dodge it by leaning backwards at the last minute, the bullets whizzing over her head. She let out a gasp as she noticed sharply that she'd been set up, the bullets had been a diversion as a cloaked figure descended upon her, an extended white blade aimed for a horizontal strike directly at her neck. There seemed to be no time left to dodge or react accordingly to the attack.

 _CLANG!_

The Goddess of War let out a calmed sigh as her subordinate was able to move fast enough in time to deflect the strike with his own large dual blades. The two warriors clashed blades once more, generating sparks as the unknown assailant twirled his body and delivered an overhead strike in which her guardian parried with slight difficulty. The brief exchange ended immediately as the two jumped away from each other, with the Goddess nothing that the new cloaked figure's sword was in fact, as white as bone. No, it _was_ bone. A sword made of his bone.

The Goddess sharply noted that six other figures had appeared around them, all of them cloaked in black with red rims, and all of them demons. They were seven in total, and each of them had large Kanji written on their cloaks, the Kanji on each of them read: _Lust_ , _Envy_ , _Wrath_ , _Greed_ , _Gluttony_ , _Sloth_ and finally, the one with the bone sword had a kanji that read: _Pride_.

The being with the kanji for _Pride_ on his cloak spoke in bland monotone "Goddess Athena, you are trespassing in the Demon Country."

Athena calmly mused at the audacity of the being "You attack first and then present your case second? And who would you be to dare attempt such against me?

"The leader of the Seven Deadly Sins; Kimimaro of the Cursed Bone."

The demon identified as Kimimaro continued "Maou-sama is displeased with the presence of uninvited Divine Beings within his country. He has presented you two options: Leave or die."

Athena laughed as she gestured towards her cloaked guardian, "If you seven are the most elite warriors in the Demon Faction, then this war might be too easy. There are only seven of you. There is only one of him. Now, let's see what you can do against my ace."

Up above, Sona watched as Alucard seemed to grow restless as he watched the white-cloaked warrior, as though his reveal was something he had been expecting for a long while.

A surge of energy came from the white-cloaked warrior of the goddess, appearing more like a ghost than anything else. He let out a grunt and threw off his robe, revealing a shiny bald head and several red tattoos on his pale, scarred, and heavily armored body. The Seven Deadly Sins instantly went on guard as they could detect a large amount of power and bloodlust from the warrior in their presence.

Slowly, the man's furrowed eyes opened "I am to face demons? Know this now you beings of worldly temptation! The hands of death could not defeat me! The sisters of fate could not hold me!"

His blades shone dangerously as he pointed it and righted himself into a battle pose. At that on moment, the demons realized that they could not call the being in front of them a man. No, this being had surpassed the mere essence of human mortality. He had ascended and gained a level that mere men did not possess. His battles and experience had granted him a transcendence very few would ever be able to achieve. He was certainly not a man, he was a god.

"…And you will not see the end of this day!"

 _A god of War_.

* * *

 **A/N: HO! HO! HO! SURPRISE BISHES!**

 **Cough. Ignoring that childish outburst of juvenile behavior, I am quite certain no one expected Kimimaro. That guy gets no love in canon or in fan fics. A guy who could fight and survive being crushed by Gaara's sand and then turn a massive desert into a forest of bones DEFINITELY needs some freaking screen time, don't you think? Him being alive probably confirms what you've all been thinking, and by default, explains who the other main "anomaly" is.**

 **Oh, and only one person, just one person, who read this story noticed that when Dohnaseek was brought back with the Null Void, his description was similar to the characters revived by Edo-Tensei, and his race was indicated [? ? Summon].**

 **Then of course the numerous foregrounding elements before hand, all of which surrounded the mysterious demonic fuinjutsu adept. I do think I made it too obvious, probably because I didn't want it to seem like it came out of nowhere.**

 **And I'm sure you all knew that Kratos was going to be in this story. Hell, I've been foregrounding that since the fifth freaking chapter.**

 **And of course, there's the Issei/Koneko smut moment... [technically] and the Issei/Akeno bonding moment. I think it'll be interesting writing a one-sided Rias/Akeno and a constantly in flux, friends-with-benefits Issei/Akeno.**

 **Ah well, it's CHRISTMAS EVE! And I'm so behind on decorations and planning... so, be sure to leave tons of reviews for Santa!**

 **MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	22. Awakening

**I do apologize for my lack of an update. Ah, I even missed this Fic's one year anniversary. And I had planned so much for it all. Alas, In other news, watching Masou Gakuen HxH and Shinmai no Testament surprisingly gave me inspiration for this story... and no, there will not be any crossovers from those two shows. Absolutely not. Regardless, The Midas Arc starts... now.**

 **Key:**

 **[ _We will ravage all of mankind and thrust it into an age of infernal darkness!]_ \- Darkness Speaking**

 **/ _I am surrounded by idiots and morons who serve as proof of Einstein's belief that stupidity is infinite./_ \- Logic Speaking**

 ** _{Orgies! Give Me Orgies or Give me death! But really though, when do the orgies start?} -_ Carnality Speaking**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 21:**

 **Awakening**

* * *

 **Kuoh General Hospital**

 **2:01 AM**

Aika Kiryu sighed to herself as she stared up towards the bland, dull white ceilings of her Hospital room. She had been one of the unfortunate few who hadn't yet vacated the school building, and she found herself now having reduced to a mere statistic in the grand scheme of things.

It wasn't really her two broken legs that worried her, no, she was always certain that there were people out there who'd still love her even if she was unable to walk ever again. Her major issue had been the grievous burns which had completely littered her back and cost her some of her hair.

Alas, she had chalked it up to nothing more than unfortunate cruel fate, and she wasn't going to spend her time whining and moaning and complaining about how it wasn't fair, or about how her life was possibly ruined.

At least she wasn't dead.

She took comfort in the fact that had she died that day, she really wouldn't have been able to cope at all. The doctors and nurses that kept giving her pitying smiles despite how she laughed and joked around about her condition just didn't get it. They believed that she was hiding her pain behind a mask of joy and happiness, and felt that her laughter was never genuine.

Supposedly, once she was discharged, she'd go through multiple layers of therapy, both physical and otherwise, to make sure that she was fully whole again. Though she didn't need it, she was perfectly fine. There was absolutely no reason for her to have someone try to examine why she never slept – she just didn't feel tired – or why she kept jumping and fidgeting at the tiniest noises – she was a horror buff and loved surprises – or why her hands kept trembling anytime she tried to do anything – it was from excitement.

There were perfectly logical reasons for why she was the way she was. It's not like she was traumatized or anything.

Aika's eyes widened as she heard a noise come out from outside the room.

"N-nurse? Is that you?"

There was a sound of something going on outside, like something moving, and she felt a deep amount of trepidation come onto her.

She couldn't walk and moving was an agonizing experience, so, she instantly closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing, trying her best to imitate sleep as she could. Her glasses hadn't been replaced yet, so she could hardly see if she wanted to.

She heard the door open, but the footsteps were absolutely silent, as though it were a ghost entering into her room. She tried to calm herself down and imitate sleep the best of which she could, as the figure drew closer and closer.

Eventually, the figure stopped in front of her.

Then she felt something cold and slippery fall on her body.

She didn't struggle or even pretend to be awake out of fear, but she found herself not hating the feeling. The cold and slippery liquid moved like it had a mind of its own and covered her entire body. Waves of pleasure began to stimulate off her and she did her best to give nothing away.

She avoided gulping down the saliva welling up in her mouth at the feeling, and had to avoid gasping when the cold liquid reached her nipples that were already stimulated and erect, even as she felt herself growing hotter and wetter down below.

The cool liquid felt freezing as it touched her burns and then went down to her legs, and she subtly bit her teeth to stop herself from moaning when she felt it around her thighs and closer to a spot that was reserved only for someone she'd marry.

At last, the cold liquid receded, not a moment too soon as she had almost creamed herself from the sensations.

As her thoughts of lust and arousal declined, Aika realized something extremely odd.

The pain was gone. All the pain she had felt from the burns on her back were gone, and even her legs felt better, no, they felt better than possible. The damage was gone, and she knew, she just knew that she could move them again.

It… was nothing short of miraculous.

Then, she felt the figure began to recede, to leave her room as though it hadn't just done her the greatest favor anyone had ever graced her with in her life.

And so, in one bounding motion, she attempted to leap off the bed and tackle the figure, only for her to stumble and accidentally end up dragging the figure down with her.

She of course, had almost completely forgotten about the fact that she was in her hospital gown and had absolutely nothing else on, but she was rather harshly reminded of it when the figure somehow ended up with his hands around her naked butt and her breasts pressed against his mouth, while her right hand had slipped down his pants.

She had no idea how in the world she had fallen into such a scenario.

Rather than question it, she rose her breasts from the face of her healer, only to stare at the face of the last person she was possibly expecting. Even with the thicker and slightly longer black hair, there was no mistaking the face… and even as her hand _accidentally_ felt his rod… there was no mistaking the size either.

"H-Hyoudou I-Issei?"

Before she could question it or even say anything else, her eyelids felt heavier than anything else in the world, and she promptly slumped and fell asleep.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

"Gah… this is seriously more trouble than it's worth."

Issei grumbled under his breath as he carried the now peacefully asleep Aika to her bed, placing her gently on the matrass whilst DLC in her shrunken form sat on his shoulder.

"Master you knew there would be a chance of being discovered when you decided to heal everyone in your school that was injured."

"I got lucky with the other eighteen. None of them even stirred when you landed on them."

"Master, the other eighteen were fast asleep."

Issei blinked at his familiar.

"And she _wasn't?_ "

"I thought Master could tell… you have good senses and you could have Observed her Master."

Issei shook his head. That was an error in his own judgment, but it was too late. "It doesn't make any difference now. She _saw_ me."

"Do you want to make her forget it Master?"

"…No. I don't want to tamper with anyone's memories tonight… let's just leave."

The Gamer made his way out of the room, silently and expertly evading the nurses on the night shift with his level of stealth that made it impossible for them to even detect him. He opened one of the outer windows, before calmly applying Tree Walking and walking down the building without a care in the world.

His primary goal had been to heal all those who had been injured, and his secondary goal was to find some way to comfort the families of those that had lost their loved ones. He didn't know how to go about doing that yet, so for now, he had put it on hold.

Of course, DLC had advised him against healing the students due to how it would cause questions if nineteen people were miraculously healed overnight. In the end however, Issei had decided to heal them anyway, seeing as how it was partially his fault that they were hospitalized in the first place.

It would be called a miracle, and if anything, it would only help inspire more hope in the already bleak looking city of Kuoh.

For now however…

"Dil-chan."

"Yes Master?"

"We need to go to the Underworld."

The familiar seemed to blink at the rather odd statement.

"Master?"

Issei sighed, craning his neck slightly as his eyes narrowed. He didn't know what it was, or what exactly was the problem, but he felt odd, He felt paranoid and edgy and his sympathetic nervous system had constantly been flipping the switch between fight-or-flight ever since.

This weird feeling was something that he had analyzed came from his Paragon of Jashin perk which made him more in tuned with his instincts. And ever since, his instincts had been screaming that there was something going on that he was unaware of, that there was something grand happening behind the scenes and he was just idly oblivious of it all.

No.

He couldn't afford that. He couldn't risk it.

So, at the same time however, Issei could not just leave his responsibilities in Kuoh. This brought him to his current situation.

"Blood Clone."

Issei watched as a cut appeared on his wrist and blood gushed out of it, all while his HP ticked to half of what it originally was. The Blood pooled together before rising and molding itself into the shape of an exactly identical Hyoudou Issei, complete with the same dark jeans, black trench coat and similar dark shoes.

"Hmm… you know, I think I understand why Narcissus did what he did." Issei said, walking around the clone and realizing that his physique was much more impressive than what it had been before, and gone was the flabby teenager, in place was now a fit, slender and muscular warrior.

"Ah… Master… two Masters… Dil-chan can't handle two at the same time…"

The Gamer's eye twitched as he flicked the back of his familiar's head. "Don't get any ideas."

Issei then regarded the Clone, and came to a semi-ingenious plan that he wasn't even certain would work.

' _Personas… hello?_ '

 _[Give me control of your body!]_ Darkness grouched.

 _/So now you have understood the importance of questioning yourself and seeking out aid?/_ Logic asked.

 _{You should have slept with the nerdy girl. Or a few of those nurses. Come on! Her hand was grabbing your dick for god's sake!}_ Of course, that voice belonged to Carnality.

' _Since you're all here… and proving once more that I doubt my own sanity… I need your aid.'_ Issei began ' _I can control the clone on my own, but I need it to be able to do other things while I can focus in the Underworld. So… I'm going to see if I can transfer control of it to one of you lot.'_

 _[Pick me! Together, with the darkness under your command, no enemy will be able to hide from our might! The Shadows will bend to your will and all shall be consumed!]_

 _/Actually, it would be pertinent for you to pick the persona that is most intellectually capable of making rational, well thought out and completely sane choices./_

 _{Or you could just go ahead and pick the one that is closest to your perverted persona! I bet I could rack up a ton of stats for you in the meanwhile!}_

"That's the thing. I'm picking all three of you."

There was a beat.

[ _No! All you need is me!]_

 _/You expect me to work with a psychopath and a horny dog?/_

 _{There is no way I can have any fun with those two deadbeats around!}_

Issei had thought it over, before deciding that on their own, each and every one of his three voices and personas in his head where utterly bat-shit crazy. However… _together_ on the other hand, they actually could keep the others from doing certain things…

"Alright! Let's work to it! All of you! Out! This way I can get some much needed quiet."

It was strange, rather than him say, metaphysically pushing his thoughts and personas unto the clone, it was more or less like him implanting a set of commands and codes on what to do and what not to do and then leaving everything entirely up to the clone as it was filled with the three of Issei's personas all at once.

Issei made sure to put them in in equal contents, and then he stepped back and watched the clone.

It seemed to blink, before a wide, creepy smile came unto its face. Issei could see, hear and smell everything it did, so it was odd seeing himself from another angle while at the same time seeing other things. Shaking his head at the sensation, he looked over to the clone and decided that it needed a name.

"Henceforth, your name is… Cloud."

Clone-Issei, now dubbed Cloud, scratched his head at the name. "You got that from CLD didn't you… as an opposite of DLC."

Issei nodded. "Now Cloud… you know what to do. And don't forget I can see everything you do, so don't even think about doing something stupid. Got it?"

"Hai, Hai. Got it."

Issei watched as Cloud leaped away from the building, off to do the tasks on which it was suitably assigned.

"Master… was that… wise?"

Issei shook his head. "There's an instant self-destruct option I have in case he attempts to do something crazy. The last thing I need is an evil clone of myself running around ruining things."

Issei stretched, before letting out a sigh.

"All right, brace yourself Dil-chan, I'm about to fast-travel to the Underworld. I haven't done this before so…"

"As you command Master!"

DLC snuck herself tightly into Issei's pockets, just as the Gamer entered a low crouch and charged up his energy.

 **Fast Travel Option Available.**

 **Fast Travel Means Available – Shadow Step.**

 **Would you like to Fast Travel to the Underworld?**

 **Yes/No**

Issei selected yes.

 **Where in the Underworld would you like to travel to?**

 **-Sitri Territory**

 **-The Black Market**

 **-Fort Goetia**

Issei noted the second option, realizing that if the Black Market was available, it most likely meant that Mittelt had already begun her mission, and he would be appearing beside her. Likewise went for the location called Fort Goetia, and of course he wasn't sure what Raynare would be doing, so he decided that it would be safer to head to Sona's location.

 **Sitri Territory Selected.**

"Shadow Step."

Issei's world turned into a myriad of shadows.

* * *

Hyoudou Issei was a bore.

This was the first thing that had gone through the mind of the clone known as Cloud, as it was a copy of the original, but a copy which was equal parts lustful, homicidal and intelligent.

His tasks included minor things like finding Freed Selzen and ensuring that Kuoh wasn't destroyed in the original's absence, and making sure to train both Sona's and Rias' peerages.

Those were things that were dull and boring! And there would be no joy or excitement gained from any of those things, so the newly christened Cloud had decided to instead spend the remaining few hours of his night doing something that was far more fun, and far much easier.

Gambling.

With the minor application of the Transformation technique, he looked like a slightly older Shikamaru Nara and with a full beard. Cloud had then entered a casino with the measly few yen that Issei had possessed.

Six agonizing hours and thirteen casinos later, Cloud decided to stop. Because he realized he was actually getting addicted, and because he never knew about the potential fun in gambling.

Not to mention the numerous skills and stat gains.

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Luck has gone up by 1!**

 **Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

 **Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

 **Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

 **Fallacy has gone up by 1!**

 **Bluff has gone up by 1!**

 **Bluff has gone up by 1!**

 **Bluff has gone up by 1!**

 **Bluff has gone up by 1!**

 **Poker Face has gone up by 1!**

 **Poker Face has gone up by 1!**

 **Poker Face has gone up by 1!**

 **Poker Face has gone up by 1!**

 **Poker Face has gone up by 1!**

 **Poker Face has gone up by 1!**

And on and on the notifications went, because Cloud, was a _cheat_. The Gamer's clone didn't have much money, so he had gone to the slot machines and inputted in a few coins. It had taken him a while to get the _exact_ timing right thanks to Perfect Vision, but once he did, he hit the jackpot and raked in the benefits of the spray of coins that had come forth.

Then he proceeded to do this to each and _every_ last slot machine, ignoring the odd looks of awe and disbelief he had evoked from everyone at the ludicrous nature of the act.

By doing that alone, Cloud had attained over three hundred and fifty thousand yen. But he wasn't done _just_ yet. Using his new found funds, he had taken to playing poker, and he had started with a hundred thousand yen on the lowest table, and now, he was betting with one- _million_ yen chips.

How?

The Game of Poker required you to be capable of keeping your emotions in check, of either bluffing your way to victory or doing so with a good hand. Issei and by default, Cloud had the Perfect Vision perk which granted him the ability to _memorize_ the position of every card in the deck before and _after_ it was shuffled. The clone as such _knew_ everyone's hands before they themselves did, and was able to react as accordingly, because he would _always_ know when they were bluffing and when they actually had good cards.

Then coupled with the fact that he had a constantly bored expression on his face courtesy of his Transformation into the Nara, and the act of spamming Poker Face, Bluff¸ and Fallacy, he either aggravated or intimidated his opponents into making ridiculous slip-ups that granted their eminent loss, each and every single time.

Then, he left the Casino, went to another, and repeated the entire process all over again.

Which was why as he walked down the streets, watching as the sun was just beginning to rise into the horizon, Cloud looked over his money info and felt a sense of accomplishment.

 **Money: 54,823,679 Yen.**

 _Fifty-Four Million_ in _six_ hours. It was reasons like this that Cloud felt his original didn't believe in 'luck' as well as why he never really invested stat points into that particular stat. He was gaining stat increases for Gambling, yet, all he was doing was just an advanced form of cheating, because in all honesty, it was 100% skill and 0% luck.

At the very least the original couldn't complain about him not doing anything productive, seeing as how he had turned him to a millionaire in a manner of hours.

Sadly, Cloud now found himself feeling extremely, extremely bored.

"Might as well start Grinding."

Stats seemed to transfer from the Blood Clone to the original, so Cloud decided it was time to train a skill.

"ID Create."

The ID Create skill could create instant dungeons in a jiffy, but Cloud had no intention of entering inside the Instant Dungeon to fight, no, instead, Cloud was planning on training the ID Create skill until it created more than just monsters.

"ID Escape."

Yes, Cloud fully intended on being able to create an Instant Dungeon filled with skimpy dark elves and hot succubus, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Territory**

Grayfia Lucifuge had not been having a good day.

It seemed to be a common occurrence now, she noted. Things just kept happening one after the other, and her husband was occupied with work now more so than ever, especially seeing as how Serafall was gone and now, the Lucifer was trying to do both his job and Serafall's at the same time.

There had been numerous arguments as to what to do to retrieve Serafall, and of course, this issue was not _just_ a devil problem, but a _faction_ problem, meaning that any action taken by them would be seen as an action taken by the entire faction.

And that was the thing. They _could_ end up simply raiding Olympus and demanding, with immediate effect that Serafall Leviathan be released, but that would get them nothing but having the full force of Olympus come after them.

Which… would not end well.

So now, their only option was to attempt a _negotiation_ of sorts. But of course, in exchange for Serafall Leviathan, the Greek Faction were asking for the head of Alucard.

Sirzechs didn't have the authority, or the power to grant them that wish, and so, they lay at a standstill.

In the end, they had been willing to give ten days. Ten days for them to hand over the Vampire, and they would release Serafall.

If in ten days, the ultimate vampire was not in their grasp, the Leviathan would die.

Then other than that eminent threat approaching, there was a more, present, and disturbing matter that Grayfia had to deal with.

"You summoned me Venelana-sama?"

Venelana Gremory neé Bael stood at the balcony, overlooking the large garden that lay below. She could easily have passed for Rias' sister, with the striking resemblance save for her brunette hair which was shorter.

The weather was a distinct chill of the early morning kind, and the ever present sky of the underworld seemed to add a somber, melancholic atmosphere to everything all.

The Underworld and the Human realm moved at approximately the same time in order to maintain a sense of normalcy for the devils who travelled or had business in the human realm. For it wouldn't do for you to have gone to the human realm and made a contract with a twelve year old girl, only for you to return to the underworld for dinner, and then by the time you go back, she's already thirty and getting married.

Though there was a slight time difference, but it was merely like being in an entirely different time-zone, rather than an entirely different realm.

"Yes, Grayfia-san, I know you must already have your hands full with my son, but I'm afraid I must burden you a little."

The woman was dressed in a formal gown which made her seem like nothing more than a slightly formal housewife. Grayfia had to constantly remind herself that this woman was known as the Brunette Ruin Princess in her peak, and was one of the strongest female devils of the underworld, of all time.

"I am willing to help in any way I can Venelana-sama."

Venelana smiled. "Have you noticed anything odd with Rias as of late Grayfia-san?"

Grayfia had a feeling that such was the reason of the conversation. Rias had… not been herself for the past two days. She hadn't been faring well, feeding well, and she lacked the usual happiness that made her- _her_.

"She has not been… herself lately."

"Do you know why?"

"I am not cert-"

"Come now, Grayfia. The maids are not as apt as to be able to gossip idly without your knowledge."

Grayfia let her lips fall into a common, indiscernible expression.

It was known that the Gremory Clan was a clan of devils which took extraordinarily good care of their members, the members of their peerage and even their servants. They treated them like family, and though this view was frowned and mocked upon by the rest of the underworld, it was, in fact the Gremory way.

Venelana however, was _not_ a Gremory.

She was originally of the Bael Clan; a Clan which valued the Power of Destruction above any and all thing else, a clan which could banish its own blood members if they were seen as unworthy, as _unfitting_ enough to carry their name. And though she had adopted the mentality and manner of which the Gremory Clan did things, there was and would always be, a part of her that ran on the cold shrewdness of the Bael Clan. It was utterly impossible for one to abandon their roots, no matter how hard they tried.

"There seem to have been some scuffle between Rias and Sona, a falling out of sorts."

Venelana let herself laugh. "Yes, I had expected something of the sort to happen, but what is a friendship without a few tests and trials? When Sona and Rias work out their difficulties, they'll be stronger friends than ever before."

" _When_?" Grayfia had asked "Not _if?_ "

The matriarch of the Gremory family simply smiled, and once more, Grayfia had to remind herself of the fact that her mother-in-law could truly be a terrifying woman.

"In any case, what has me bothered is the sheer drive with which Rias has begun consuming the books in the Clan Library." Venelana said, "At first I had believed her to simply be trying to get one over her friend, but instead, she was researching on the Two Heavenly Dragons."

"The Two Heavenly Dragons? Why?"

"It was the same thing I had asked her. And she had given me the most strangest of tales to the point that I wouldn't believe it." Venelana shook her head.

"Strangest tales?"

"Apparently it seems that in her overzealous attempt to negate the Marriage Contract she has with Riser, she found herself becoming the unwitting pawn in someone else's larger game."

There was a spike of slight anger that Grayfia did not realize where it had originated from. Rias was her sister-in-law, and for all of the girl's faults and flaws, she did not appreciate seeing someone who her husband loved so dearly being manipulated, for any reason or the other.

Upon seeing her eyes, Venelana understood, and also shared the sentiment, vocally. "While my daughter is to blame for her own errors, I cannot, _will not_ , let anyone simply play my only daughter like a puppet. It is, _unacceptable_."

"I am to assume that the person responsible for such is one of the Two Heavenly Dragons? No, most likely it is the Red Dragon Emperor."

Venelana eyed her with curiousity. "How did you know?"

"The White Dragon Emperor is a battle loving maniac known as Vali Lucifer. He is currently under the employ of Azazel, so I cannot fathom how he would have gained a connection to Rias." Grayfia said, recalling that her husband had let slip that little detail "Then there is the anonymous fact that the Red Dragon Emperor's name seems to be coming up multiple times in recent events. There are of course, rumors connecting him to Kokabiel's death."

Venelana simply nodded. "It is indeed."

The dots began connecting in Grayfia's head. "You wish to speak to him?"

"Yes."

"As you wish Venelana-sama. I will have him brought before you at once-"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple my dear."

Grayfia rose an eyebrow, slowly.

"It seems that the boy has gained a _miraculous_ amount of reputation in such a short while, his name now carries such weight that you cannot risk simply bringing him before me against his free-will without political backlash."

"Reputation? Here in the underworld? _How?_ "

"There are surprisingly many supporters of the Red Dragon Emperor as well as numerous people willing to gain his allegiance. The last host of the Red Dragon Emperor was a notably favorable man, and everyone he gained allegiances with swore to also help his successor, should he prove _trustworthy._ "

The wife of the Lucifer found the whole thing annoyingly complicated. Politics had never truly been her strong suit, she had a mind for tactics and strategy, and could sit blank-faced through meetings, but the complexities and intricacies of attachment, allegiance, self-interest, scheming, manipulating and back-stabbing that came with the Underworld's political clans was just one thing she could not handle.

There were only thirty-three of the original seventy-two pillar clans, and yet it was a hectic, hellish affair to keep up with all the politics of the respective families. She couldn't imagine just how horrible it would have all been if there had actually been the complete seventy-two clans.

"So what do you wish for me to do Venelana-sama?"

"Why, invite him to tea of course."

"V-venelana-sama?"

It took Grayfia a full second to realize that her mother-in-law was actually _not_ being sarcastic. She was seemingly completely serious about the idea of inviting the Red Dragon Emperor to the Gremory Territory so they could talk over a cup of tea.

Well it did seem like a civil enough response, but there was always one possible fundamental issue.

"As you wish Venelana-sama," she said "But, what if he refuses?"

"Oh don't worry. From what Rias has told me of this… Hyoudou Issei…" Venelana said with a small smile "…he won't refuse."

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Sitri Territory**

Sona woke up in a cold sweat, panting and gasping, as though she had ran a marathon Antarctica. She stared blankly into her room, and as the dark-blue colored environment was indeed absent of any presence except hers. She glanced over to her small library of stacked bookshelves, then to her table and dresser, then to her chess-themed couch and central rug, and even upwards, to the dark-blue and sky-blue checkered ceilings, all to ensure that she was indeed alone in her room.

Sona had awoken from her 'dream' after witnessing the man, who Alucard had called _Kratos_ , utterly and completely decimate the Seven Deadly Sins like they were a pack of juvenile delinquents facing off against the Italian Mafia.

There had been no respite, and in the end, the seven had fled, running with their tails in between their legs at the superior adversary, and it had been at that moment that the Goddess and the Godslayer had turned their gaze, _directly_ to her and Alucard, as if to indicate that they _knew_ they were there.

And the last thing Sona remembered seeing were the harsh golden eyes of the man, before his blade had swung immediately towards her direction.

Then she had woken up in her room.

She stood, trying to make sense of it all, and wondering why the Vampire had shown any of it to her in the first place. It was entirely above what she could even comprehend, strength and power at the peaks of beings whose very presence was sung as legend or fabled as myths.

She was just… Sona.

Her momentary victory against Kokabiel seemed like an infant bragging about successfully putting a round peg in a square hole in comparison to what she had just witnessed.

Did she really have such a far distance to reach before she attained that level of strength? Was the gap between a god and a devil that unattainable?

It was world-shattering to even believe that.

Sona attempted to move forward to relegate what she had seen to the other Satans, but she found herself unable to move.

A deep feeling of fear and dread managed to seep within her.

Had the Ultimate Vampire decided to take her as a hostage after all? Had Kratos and Athena tracked her down and wanted to silence her to make sure no one ever knew what had occurred there and then?

Multiple theories and hypothesis spurned forth from her mind and the fear became like an unbearable anchor in her chest, until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her slender waist and a voice whisper in her ear.

"Boo!"

The sheer savagery with which she conjured a sword of water and attacked the figure behind her would have easily stunned Athena herself.

She struck through, directly at her target's chest, only to blink as her mind caught up with the voice and as she noticed that she had just stabbed the very person who had helped her accomplish a great portion of her dreams.

He coughed a small amount of blood, before giving her a thumbs up with a bloody grin.

"Good… reflexes."

Sona's eyes widened, actually _widened_ for the first time as she dispelled the water blade and moved towards the boy who slumped and sat on the ground in front of her bed.

She felt more dread in that second than she had ever felt in her entire life.

"I am – I mean – I didn't – I – I – am terribly –"

He placed a finger on her lips.

"You look so cute when you're flustered."

Never in her life had a sentence brought her more relief.

She didn't know why the complement had sent heat to her face so ferociously, or why her stomach felt odd, but she shook her head as she tried to recollect herself.

"Y-you might have lost more blood than I thought Hyoudou-kun."

Rather than respond, he grabbed her by her waist, and pulled her closer to him, until their bodies were close enough for a thin piece of paper to be wedged in between.

She stopped herself from gulping, even as she felt the warmth of their bodies, and as her chest pressed against his, and as their legs tangled.

"Hyoudou-kun, you're bleeding –"

"And you're sweaty, but you don't hear me complaining." He responded, before a smaller smile managed to come onto his face "Now that you mention it –"

Sona managed to give him a straight face. "Please do not say that you are sexually aroused by the idea of my sweat."

"I am not sexually aroused by the idea of your sweat."

"Then that's –"

"I am sexually aroused by the idea of you being sweaty. There's a difference."

Sona had to refrain from rolling her eyes. Regardless, she managed to detach herself from him, only to check his wound and notice that it was gone. There was no scarring, no sign to show that he had been stabbed, and if not for his bloody clothes, there would have been no evidence of an attack.

"Your injury… it's… gone."

"Perhaps your sweat is capable of curing wounds? Kind of like a phoenix tears thing, but instead, Sitri sweat."

"Hyoudou –"

"I mean, your clan _is_ known for its strong water affinity users. Maybe you've developed a new power."

"Hyoudou –"

"Maybe we can experiment to see if _other_ fluids have any special properties –"

"Issei!"

He blinked at her, and Sona had to calm herself down from the realization that it was the first time she had addressed him with his first name.

"I'm serious." She looked into his eyes and found them looking rather suspicious for a brief second, before he shrugged.

"I have a familiar who can heal almost any and all wounds in a matter of seconds. Come on out Dil-chan and say hi."

Sona watched, transfixed as a small translucent liquid emerged from his pocket and transformed into a brilliant looking green slime about the size of her palm.

"Hello! You must be Master's girlfriend. I am Master's familiar, DLC!"

Sona just blinked at the little creature, before nodding, and then turning her gaze back to Issei. "Where did you get a slime familiar with consciousness? Those are _impossibly_ rare."

Before Issei could speak, the girl pepped up. "Master didn't get me from anywhere, Master created me!"

"He –" Sona had to reduce her voice "He _created_ you?"

"Hai! Master had to – mmph!"

Sona rose an eyebrow as Issei covered the familiar's mouth and put her back into his pocket.

"I was rather interested in what she had to say."

"Trust me, there are some things better off not knowing."

Sona found herself slumping back as her mind began thinking. Issei was quite possibly an amazing person, despite his openly perverse nature and the way he did things, he was one of the few people she could count on to do anything for her, and he had gone above and beyond just for her.

Yet, she had never really offered him a single 'thank you'.

Yet, she barely knew a single thing about him.

Yet, he kept secrets from her.

"Hyoudou-kun… do you trust me?"

He blinked at her, and she felt herself feeling oddly barer than she thought possible. She found herself wondering why her chest kept pounding over and over again until it seemed to block all other sounds except that of Issei's voice.

"I do."

He didn't even have to question it. He didn't even have to ask her why she had asked the question, he didn't seem to have any doubts, any second thoughts, and he uttered the sentence to her as brazenly as though he was stating a universal convention which was known and accepted by all.

Without a shred of hesitation.

Everything he had done for her, he had done without a shred of hesitation.

And she found herself constantly feeling guilty that she could not do the same.

"What… what did I do to deserve someone like you?" she whispered under her breath.

"You almost gave me detention for coming late to school."

Sona blinked, realizing that he had heard her and he had responded, and all at once, the image of that day, the day when Issei had flustered her at the school doors entered her mind and she felt like it was an entire lifetime ago.

And once more, she found herself laughing. A genuine laugh that no one other than him had heard, and a laugh that no one other than him would hear.

"That I did." She said "And I do not regret it for a single second."

She found it odd, as to how she felt surprisingly at peace with his presence. More at peace than she thought possible, more comfortable than she thought possible.

"Hyoudou-kun… would it be right of me to ask if you could kiss me?"

There it was again, that brilliant, dazzling smile.

"Well it wouldn't be wrong."

She nodded, slowly as his breath tickled her face and as his lips drew closer, and closer, and closer.

And then, they connected with hers.

He tasted oddly of red wine and jasmine tea, a combination that she did not at all find unpleasant. The kiss wasn't overly deep, nor was it overly long, it was a short chaste kiss from which he disconnected his lips from her mouth afterwards, and made it long for some more company.

"Again."

The second kiss was slightly longer, he brought his body closer to hers, wrapping his left arm firmly around her slender waist. He detached, this time making her let out a hot gasp.

"Again."

She had barely rasped out the word before the third kiss began, his tongue found its way into her mouth, and interlocked with hers, rolling and gently sucking on her own tongue. She breathed in his scent, which was oddly of artificial cleansers and detergent, and even as his warm lips was joined with hers, she found herself lost in the sound of her own small, pleasurable moans.

Then all at once, she stopped, detaching herself from him.

"S-Sona?"

"I-I apologize – we can't."

She hadn't stopped because she felt it was too soon, or that it was far too early for such intimacy, or because he had been her first kiss and she was still trying to get over the sensation. No. Her loins were hot, aching for sweet cold release. Her breasts were stiff and erect, and every part of her wished so desperately that she could claim him.

But she couldn't.

Now was not the time. She couldn't afford to be engaging in such pleasurable activities while her sister lay in a cold, dark and grimy prison cell somewhere.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Hyoudou-kun… the problem… the problem lays somewhere else entirely."

He hugged her, actually hugged her closely.

"You can tell me anything."

Sona took in a deep breath of air, and, she did.

She told him.

Everything.

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Yokai Realm**

 **Palace of Tails**

 **Uzumaki Naruto's Office**

Sitting down on his long, smooth mahogany table, the blond stared blankly at the contents of the room. Hanging on the walls were all seven of the legendary swords of the Hidden Mist, now looking no more than decorative items, and beside it, was a mask, one which had belonged to a young man known as Haku, who had been an inspirational part of the Uzumaki's life.

To the east of the room, held a large, brown gourd, the sandy container of which had once belonged to the Kazekage.

Likewise, the room contained multiple paraphernalia of the old ninja days, shuriken, swords, scrolls, two green tracksuits, several ANBU masks and uniforms, and on and on it went.

Naruto glanced at the table, containing a picture of himself, and a young beautiful pale-eyed woman beside in his arms blushing crimson, a younger version of the woman with whisker-marks, sitting on his shoulder, and a smaller, chibi looking version of himself, grinning at the camera with two fingers stuck out.

The Sage let a melancholic smile come on to his face, before he let it go and found his face twisting into a scowl.

"Damn idiot vampire… he just had to piss me off… make me remember. Remember all of it."

Uzumaki Naruto muttered under his breath as he savored himself a rare, vintage tobacco cigar and put it in his mouth. He didn't like smoking, not really, and had only taken to it not long after Shikamaru had died. Ultimately however, his regeneration nullified whatever negative consequence might be attained from the cancer sticks, so he found no reason as to why he shouldn't enjoy it while he could.

How many years had it been? He didn't know. He couldn't keep track. Whenever Issei died and time reset, it added an additional sixteen, sometimes seventeen or eighteen years which kept looping and looping and looping. He'd lost track of how old he was now… of some of the things he had done and hadn't done.

In this timeline, and the past few that Alucard had appeared, the Vampire's memories and the timeline had been modified. Even _his_ memories had been modified, he found himself having new memories into his head that messed with everything else. He had memories of doing so many things with Alucard, yet at the same time, he didn't _remember_ doing them. It was a confusing, cornucopia of paradoxes that made no sense, and trying to figure it out was simply exhausting.

Even as loops past and memories of things he never remembered doing came and came and came and came and…

"Shit, this stuff is too weak."

Naruto discarded the tobacco stick which was worth thousands, and instead brought forth a long pipe, and from his storage seals, with a batch of suspicious looking green herbs.

Stuffing them into one end of the pipe, Naruto paused before letting himself sigh. If only killing Issei would end the problem. But he'd done that, multiple times, and it only restarted the loops. And even if the Gamer wasn't dead, Naruto was still immortal… so what would truly be the point of it all?

Issei had said that they'd explore the galaxy together. Discover existence of foreign life forms. Go beyond the stars and to the edge of the universe.

But in the end, how long would it take to grow tired of _that_? How long would it take for it to become _futile_?

"That idiot… probably has no idea as to just what he can truly do with the Exodus Switch."

Naruto blinked in surprise once he put the cigar into his mouth and noted with immediate effect, that it was not a cigar but a softer, longer piece of wire that was almost fleshy. He nibbled on it slightly only to blink in surprise as heard the slight echo of a "Nya~". His eyes immediately twitched in annoyance.

"Naruto-kun, we shouldn't be doing such things in here~nya!" His eyes followed the trail of the tail to the scantily clad, extremely beautiful woman who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Her breasts were voluptuous in size and her smooth creamy legs which led down to her firm, tempting cheeks would send most men into a murderous rampage simply to get the honors of touching those heavenly cushions.

Uzumaki Naruto wasn't most men. With a single motion, he grabbed the backside of the woman as she let out a gasp, but however, unlike she expected, he did not tease her or squeeze her.

He shoved her off his table, leading to her falling head first to the ground.

"Nya! What was that for?"

Naruto extended up his hand and showed her his fingers "One, you know the rule, no one enters my office without my permission. Two, Kurama called for you two _weeks_ ago and three, you took my weed and made me nibble on your tail."

The woman smirked as she moved closer to the young man and almost practically pounced on him. She pressed her chest against him, grabbed his hand and placed it between her mounds as she sat on his thigh and whispered into his ear "Nya~ But I thought you loved nibbling me. I can also nibble you too Na~ru~to-kun!"

 _Flick!_

"Ouch!" the young woman cursed as she furiously rubbed against her forehead. He had simply flicked her, but it stung like a bee.

"I'm older than the bloody Ten Commandments. If I could be seduced that easily, I'd be dead a hundred times over." He stated in a flat deadpan.

"How did you do that? That finger flick? It hurt!" she pouted childishly as she rubbed her forehead.

"You're not dodging the question this time. Several people in the faction already feel Kurama is especially lenient to you. So, why are you so late?"

"Well… erm…"

Naruto sighed "You were shadowing Koneko again weren't you."

The woman paused and was unable to hide her guilty expression that asked 'How did you know?'

On seeing her face, Naruto continued "It's the only thing you could be doing that would make you lose track of time."

She grinned "It's not the only thing~nya… Remember that time you walked in on Yasaka and I with the-"

Naruto, managed to keep a completely straight face. "I remember. _I was there_." He interrupted sharply. "However, about your sister-"

"You know it would have been more fun if you had joined us… I'm pretty sure we can get Grayfia-chan into it too~nya!"

Naruto paused, blinked as the image rushed through his mind, before he shook his head and cast it aside "As tempting as the offer of committing adultery is, I'll have to take you up on it after you settle your business with Koneko."

"You know what would make things more fun? Your Shadow Clones! Oh, I'm sure Yasaka would love those. You know how she gets when-"

"Kuroka."

The woman paused on finally being addressed by her name in a strict tone.

"What's wrong Naruto-sama? I heard you and Alucard-sama got into a fight, you're not being your usual happy self~nya."

The Sage let himself pull up a smile. A "Sai" smile.

"I'm not stupid. You've been dodging the questions and changing the topics ever since I mentioned Koneko."

Kuroka shifted away from the man and cast her gaze at her feet, her seemingly cheerful and flirtatious outlook gone with but a single gesture. "It's complicated~nya."

"Then un-complicate it" he stated plainly, watching as the woman gave a mirthless chuckle at his words.

"Not everything is as easy as you make it seem Naruto-sama. Not everyone can forgive that easily~nya."

The blond shook his head "You can't keep running from your problems Kuroka."

The woman flinched as she rounded on him "I'm not running! I'm…"

"Watching? Observing?" the critical tone of his voice was starting to annoy the Nekoshou.

"Waiting for the right time~nya." she ground out slowly.

"And when will that be? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Or will you finally stop waiting when she's-"

Kuroka sharply interrupted him, her gaze piercing into his eyes "When she's what?"

Naruto did not back down.

"When she's dead."

Inhuman reflexes activated and Naruto effortlessly caught Kuroka's outstretched claws.

Naruto's eyes narrowed sharply "Do you want me to lie to you and say that everything will be okay? That she won't or can't die? Time is precious Kuroka! Every minute you spend is a minute gone! This is the nature of the world we live in. There's an extremely large chance that a war will begin, a war unlike anything recorded in history. If you assume that everyone you know will get out of the war unscathed, then you are naïve."

"It's called having hope Naruto." She spat back.

Naruto scowled. Hope? Hope? She was talking to him about hope? He _had_ hope. He had hope since before she was born, since after she would die. She didn't remember the numerous amount of times he had seen _her_ die, despite her Senjutsu, because _he_ removed her memories of past timelines to stop her from going insane. She didn't know how many times he had seen her bloody, broken corpse staring into the world with eyes drenched in regret, only for time to reset and for her to forget about him, about _all_ of it. No one in the bloody world just how much _hope_ he had that it would all end.

But it never did.

"Hope doesn't change anything. Hope only keeps you glued to false expectations, and then leaves you shattered in despair once your expectations fail you. Kuroka, you need to come to terms with the possibility that everyone might die."

"Everyone but _you_."

The room became pin drop silent. A condensed fog of soundlessness occupied the room and the occupants fell under its trance, lost in its utter and complete tranquility.

"Yes, Kuroka-chan. Everyone but me."

Kuroka immediately regretted her words "I-I didn't mean-"

"Nothing to worry yourself about Kuroka-chan, I was being an asshole anyway."

Naruto's eyes were closed in an eye smile, the Nekoshou tried to grab his hand, but found herself unable to touch him as he had activated his intangibility.

She knew quite well that Naruto's immortality was never of his own decision. It was a touchy subject as to how he had become immortal and undying, and according to him, he had watched his son and daughter and their own sons and daughters for ages, attending more of his children's funerals in disguise as he didn't wish for them to know that while they died, he remained a youthful twenty-one year old.

No parent ever wants to bury their child. Naruto had watched his buried _grandchildren_ for _generations_.

The blond unsealed a scroll and tossed it over to Kuroka without a word. She knew it was her mission, but before she could reach out to him to apologize, he snapped his fingers and she vanished in a flash of golden light.

Several thousand years was enough time to learn how to send people _away_ from you with the Flying Thunder God Technique, albeit it still required a marker.

"Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!" A rasengan slammed into the table out of sheer instinct, disintegrating the furniture in a storm of wooden shrapnel before Naruto found himself panting.

Another Rasengan appeared in his hand, ready to turn upon anything he could find that would sate his anger.

Then he noticed the portrait which had fallen unto the floor.

Slowly, the Uzumaki grabbed the picture, his hand trailing over it.

"Himawari, Boruto… Hinata."

Naruto let himself fall into a brief second of laughter. He let himself fall to the floor as he just laughed, and laughed. Not because anything was funny, or because whatever was left of his sanity was slowly declining. No. The reason was simple.

He had forgotten how to cry.

"I let my mask down for ten minutes… just ten goddamned minutes."

The Immortal Sage sighed, before he stretched his arm, grabbing the discarded pipe as he lit it with a low-tier katon technique and put it to his lips.

There was a knock on the door, and Naruto mentally unlocked it.

"Naruto-sama… is everything alright?"

The Uzumaki smiled. It was good to know Kurama had been able to find happiness with a kind woman like Yasaka.

"No Yasaka-chan. Nothing is alright."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

The sage paused.

"Will you let me snort pixie dust off your body?"

"I can't let you do that Naruto-sama."

"Aw well," the Sage let a small melancholic grin come over his face "At least you tried."

At least, he tried.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

It was official, Freed Selzen was an asshole.

Murayama growled to herself as she hit the large boxing sandbag in a series of quick, one-two successive strikes. She was already familiar with traditional martial arts and self-defense, and was currently taking it to another level by learning boxing, feeling that it would aid her Kendo.

She was at the gym for the meantime, as boxing practice gave her the perfect excuse for the numerous bruises she had received at the hands of her 'sensei'.

His style of fighting was brutally efficient, to which Murayama could easily testify to. However, he did not cut corners with blows, and he had sent her down to the sparing mat more times than she could count and there had been a few close calls in which she was almost seriously injured.

She had believed herself to possess the advantage over him due to her increased speed and strength that she had gotten after Sona had magically appeared and gave her life back to her. That notion was easily cut down when the man proved to be faster and more agile than her regardless of her newly found speed.

Murayama sighed as she left the sandbag and discarded her gloves, realizing that she had to save her stamina for the training session with her sensei.

She entered into the showers, humming a slightly jaunty tune to herself, as she realized that despite the man's bluntness, and his utterly uncouth nature, he wasn't exactly as terrible as first imagined. He made lewd jokes about her all the time, shamelessly peeped on her in the bathroom and on more than one occasion, sat down in her living room but naked and drinking a cup of coffee as he watched the morning news.

And coffee… that seemed to be the only thing the man could make brilliantly, though he had claimed to also be a mixologist of some sort, she could never really tell because there was absolutely no way she was going to stock her kitchen with alcohol.

Anything else he tried to cook usually ended up going in flames, or ended up tasting as though all the spices of China had been garnished with it, being often too hot for her tongue to handle.

Alas, her pocket money slowly dwindled away.

She sighed as she scrubbed away the grime from her sweaty body. Her father only sent her the basic funds needed to live and not much else. She didn't have much money to splurge unless she wished to gain her own, and at this point, she was sorely tempted to find a part-time job which would allow her to be able to gain some extra money.

Unfortunately, the only places that were currently hiring would have to include her working as a waitress of some sort, and she found the very notion appalling and insulting.

Murayama walked out of the showers and changed into her normal attire of jeans and a basic red blouse, before picking up her bags as she decided to head home.

She pondered on going to the hospital to check up on some of her fellow students, but she wasn't entirely keen on the idea that she might be spotted, recognized, and then queried on her own miraculous recoveries.

"Mura-chan!"

Murayama blinked, finding someone with pink hair approaching her location, and easily recognizing the face as her friend Katase.

"Ah, Katase-chan."

Her friend stopped in front of her, smiling brilliantly, as she had always been the more chipper one amongst the two. "Did you hear the news?"

Murayama tilted her head, a small amount of dread seeping in. Had they caught unto Freed being in her apartment?

"What news?"

"All the students that were injured were suddenly miraculously cured! It's like the same thing that happened to you!"

Murayama let a faux smile come on to her face. "That's great."

It wasn't a miracle. Her own scenario had been a deal with the devil, and if Sona had been busy, she doubted that it was going to be a miracle for the others as well.

"I was lucky to catch up to you here! We were about to go and visit them –"

" _We_?"

"My sister Kuina and I."

Murayama _knew_ who Kuina was. She was the young enigmatic girl of about twelve or thirteen who looked up to her, because their goals were the same, in that the smaller girl wished to become the greatest swordswoman. However –

"Katase." Murayama glanced at her very, _very_ gravely.

"W-what?"

"Where. Is. Kuina?"

"S-she went a-ahead of me to y-your apartment –"

No sooner had she made that utterance did Murayama turn around and made a mad dash towards her house.

" _No! No!_ "

He wasn't the type of scumbag who'd harm a child right? He wouldn't hurt her right?

Murayama wasn't sure, but she knew better than to have a huge amount of hope in other people. She knew better than to make the mistake of trusting other people to do the things you'd wish them to.

Murayama ignored the strange stares, and looks she was getting as she dashed through the streets, she offered a cornucopia of apologies as she pushed people out of her way in her mad rush to head to her home.

She cut through busy traffic, ignoring honking cars and screams as she made a short cut by leaping over a picket fence, and cursing as she moved through shrubbery in her haste.

She eventually ignored the barbed wires of a particular long building as it bit into her leg and left a nasty cut, all the while praying to whatever deity in heaven or whatever being in hell that her sister's best friend was not in any danger.

Eventually, she reached the apartment, her breath lost as she burst open the door, and had her eyes scan for the little girl.

"No! No! No!"

Murayama's blood ran cold.

She grabbed a sword, a _real_ sword instead of her usual kendo ones and moved into the room where she heard the voices, and she kicked it open, with all intent of committing murder.

"You bastard! How could you – you – you…"

She stared at the odd scene that lay before her.

Freed Selzen sat, still in bandages and thankfully a pair of shorts, and there was Kuina, the little girl, sitting adjacent from him, both having game controllers in their hands, and both staring at her with mild confusion.

"W-what's going on here?"

Kuina pointed at him. "He's cheating at Super Marco Kart!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you keep choosing Princess Pear. God knows she's slow as fu-dge."

"No way! You kept getting the Star power up for every pick-up! That's not possible unless you're cheating!"

Murayama slowly massaged her forehead with her hand that wasn't wielding an actual Japanese katana.

"And you've been playing… video games since you got here?"

"Kinda, but at first he was telling me this cool story about travelling the world just to hunt demons and devils and sometimes gang up with angels –"

"And as I kept saying, it is not a story. For heaven's sakes, how many times were you dropped as a child?"

"Freed-san is kinda grouchy, and swears like my grandpa who was a sailor. And look, they even have the same hair color!" Kuina said, leading to said grouchy person scowling sourly.

"Hey –"

"And they're both slightly out there."

"Hey!"

"Kuina-chan, can I speak with you for a second?"

Drawing the girl away from the room, Murayama let finally exhale a breath of exhaustion that she didn't even realize she had within her.

"Is everything okay Murayama-sempai?"

"Did… did he try to touch you or do anything –"

Kuina flinched. "No! He didn't, why would you think –"

"Sorry, I just –" Murayama shook her head, "Never mind. Forget I said anything. Look, you can't tell anyone you saw him here, is that understood?"

"But why –"

"You _just_ can't. Okay?"

The girl seemed to frown, before slowly nodding.

"Now go meet your sister, tell her that I something came up and I can't go to her to the hospital today. Maybe next time?"

She nodded reluctantly. "Can I say goodbye to him first."

"No, you can't."

"But –"

"No means no Kuina!"

The girl scowled at her. "Freed-san is right, you're a real bitch sometimes!"

Murayama recoiled, but could not reprimand the little girl before she ran out of the apartment. Leaving her feeling extremely and severely annoyed.

She turned back into the room, and found the man playing the video game without a seeming care in the world.

"What was the rule about no swearing?"

"Well thanks to you fu-dging hitting me in the ribs every five fricking seconds, I don't swear half as much as I should be."

"You called me a bitch in front of her."

"There were no suitable synonyms I could think of."

She grit her teeth at the man.

"Do you think this is _funny?_ "

The man, seemed to glance at her with surprisingly calm looking eyes.

"No, what I think is _funny_ is that your opinion of me is so goddamned low that you'd think I'd fuck a child!"

For the second time that day, Murayama recoiled physically. She did not however, back down so easily.

"How am I supposed to know what boundaries you won't cross? You _openly_ masturbated while watching me in the shower!"

"I _have_ a fucking moral code! I don't hurt pregnant women or children. As far as I'm fucking concerned, everything else is fair game."

"Well that's rather chivalrous of you! I'm sure the _thousands_ of people you've killed wished they belonged in one of those categories."

"Every single person I have ever killed had it coming! They had painted the big fucking red target on their foreheads, set the damn shot up, and only waited for me to pull the fucking trigger!"

"And I'm sure that's the excuse every serial killer gives in court."

Freed cursed, actually cursed as he slammed the controller at the television. "Well what the fuck do you want from me? Do you want me to show some fucking remorse? Well is that it?!"

"I want you to behave like a decent human being!"

"Decency? Fuck that! Humans have _no_ decency! We are a selfish race of assholes and pricks who would never think twice about killing some no name motherfucker if it meant we had a chance to elevate ourselves to wealth and fucking prosperity!"

"Aren't you supposed to be a priest? Where's your faith in humanity? In _God_?"

"Humanity? God?" The exorcist let out a dry snort "Let me tell you a story bitch-san. I knew a man once. He was a good man, a great man even. He had served in the war and become known as a War hero. Upon leaving the ranks, he became an ordinary day-to-day policeman. He was content with this life despite missing the glory days of the war. However, everything went to shit once he got permanently wounded and was forced to resign."

"What does this –"

"This once great man, shifted, morphed, he became a bitter, alcoholic and utterly deviant version of himself. In the end, he found himself at the crossroads, making a deal with a devil in order to restore himself to something better. Of course, something of equal value to him was needed. He had agreed on anything, anything he had said."

Freed's eyes narrowed.

"The fucking demon made the deal, but told cost would be the life of his pregnant wife and five year old son."

There was a slow silence.

"He of course didn't want that, but he was told it was either them or him, and it was too late to turn back." Freed seemed to vibrate with a passion that Murayama had never seen before. "And the asshole, that fucking scum, had the gall to believe that he could always get another wife. He could always have another child. That they were a _necessary sacrifice_."

"And so, he butchered her. He killed her and her unborn child and he let them be eaten by a monstrosity. He had believed that he had succeeded in killing the boy, but he was wrong." Freed shook his head.

"The boy survived. He escaped from the demon and found his father, idiotically celebrating his supposed incoming fortune. The boy took a glass bottle, shattered it over his head, and stabbed him with the fragments over and over and over and over again until his head and brains had been meshed up into a fucking bloody paste."

Murayama ignored the bile that slowly rose up in her throat.

"The boy was hunted for months by the same demon, and only happened to have been rescued from the jaws of death by a passing exorcist."

Murayama wanted to say something. She wanted to say anything, but there were no words which could be uttered.

"You see, that boy learned something that day. If God saw any of what happened, he didn't seem to mind. In the end, _destiny_ didn't butcher his mother and _fate_ didn't feed her to a demon. God doesn't make the world this way."

His eyes had never looked so cold.

" _We do_."

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Territory**

Issei walked side by side with Sona, after having a bath and changing out of his ruined clothes to a dark Chinese-styled suit, he managed to let his mind wander over the newfound information which was extremely disconcerting.

He knew his strengths, and at the same time, he knew his limits and his limitations. But the task which lay before him was greater than what he had possibly expected before.

He had kept up a brave face and joked around with Sona, because the last thing she needed to see, was him showing weakness. The last thing she needed was seeing him have doubts.

He had to be an untouchable pillar who _believed_ that everything he did was done for a reason, and that he was always in control of the situation, even when he wasn't.

Especially considering that she had returned to Rias' domain so soon after their fight. She really needed some form of comfort against it all, despite the fact that she would never vocally admit it.

As such, he intended on joining Sona to meet with the Satans, and to discuss the death of key members of the Old Satan Faction, alongside the threat of Athena and Kratos.

A threat that Issei's Gamer ability had now recognized and given it the priority of a quest.

 **New Main Quest!**

 **The God Delusion**

 **A war unlike any other ever recorded will break out if Serafall Leviathan is killed as a prisoner by the Greek Gods. The only way to prevent this, is to find and rescue her from their jaws by any means necessary.**

 **Main Objectives** **:-**

 **Rescue Serafall Sitri**

 **Prevent the Divine War**

 **Kill the Anomaly 'Kratos'**

 **Bonus Objectives** **:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Rewards: 10,000,000 EXP! Increased Relationship with the Devil Faction! Increased Relationship with the Angel Faction! Increased Relationship with the Yokai Faction! Increased Relationship with Gods and All Supernatural Religious Factions, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?,**

 **Bonus Rewards: Boosted 200,000 EXP per Bonus Objective! 20,000 Prestige points! ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Time Limit: Eight Days.**

The ten million experience points was indeed worth it considering that to achieve the feat, he had to be strong enough to kill the slayer of all godslayers.

He had to be strong enough to kill _gods_.

He didn't know if he possessed that power. He did know however, that sometimes, to win battles you didn't need to be stronger than your opponents, you only needed to be _smarter_ than them.

"Sitri-sama, Hyoudou-sama, a pleasure."

Issei looked over to the woman, his eyes idly noting the name on her head.

 **The Strongest Queen**

 **Grayfia Lucifuge Lv. ?**

As he had expected, Grayfia's level was too far for him to see. Regardless he nodded respectfully to the woman either way.

"Hyoudou-sama, if you would please, Venelena-sama has requested that you join her for tea in the gardens."

Issei let himself nod, slowly. "I'm afraid I'm rather occupied at the moment –"

"Go."

Issei blinked, turning to Sona. "What?"

"Go see her; Venelena Gremory is not a woman to be left waiting."

"Are you sure?"

"I have been in this house more times than you have seen it. I can do well on my own."

Issei let out a small sigh. "Fine."

He was led away from Sona and followed Grayfia without uttering a word, instead simply watching as the stoically cold woman led him through the mansion.

He didn't need to observe her to tell that she possessed a lot of hatred for him, and as a matter of fact, he didn't particularly care. There were more important things on his mind than why the wife of the Lucifer disliked him.

Things such as; how to kill a god.

There were no particular methods, so he assumed he would need a weapon, either forged or crafted that would be able to do the job easily. It was his best bet so far, though he'd need to do some research to confirm it.

In the end, he was brought before the woman, a woman who could easily pass for Rias' sister instead of her mother, and a woman whose power was easily noticeable.

 **The Mother of Destruction**

 **Venelana Gremory Lv. ?**

"Ah, you must be Hyoudou Issei, the Red Dragon Emperor."

All at once Issei realized just _what_ type of person she was, and realized that he was going to have no other choice but to push her buttons.

"I must be, otherwise it would be a tragedy if Grayfia-san here had accidentally brought you the wrong person."

Grayfia said nothing and left as quietly as she had arrived whilst Issei took a seat across from the ever smiling woman.

"Ah, so you seem to be quite a jokester. It's a shame the tradition of court jester has long died out."

"You know, you're the second person to have offered me such a post. Would you like to know about the first person?"

"Would I?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll call him up and ask him if he'd also like to join us for tea. Though I do wonder if he still has to drink blood considering the fact that he's the Ultimate Vampire."

Venelana's smile seemed to have thinned considerably. "You've met… the No-Life King?"

"Yes, though I do think he takes offense to being called that. Kindly refer to him as the Impaler or something, it's more flattering."

"I… see."

A servant came by and poured in some tea, to which Issei made the show of picking it up to drink it, but actually did no such thing.

"Now, Hyoudou-san, do you know why I've called you here?"

"Other than to waste my time with faux pleasantries?" Issei said, "Then no, I have _absolutely_ no clue as to why the Mother of the Lucifer has invited me to drink tea."

"Is it too much to ask for a little _civility?_ "

Issei stared at her, and then shook his head. "I'm going to say this once and only once: I. Don't. Like. You."

"And why would that be?"

"Any parent who forces or endorses an arranged marriage unto their child has automatically lost my respect."

"You are _not_ a devil Hyoudou-san. You cannot understand the circumstances –"

"Then kindly enlighten me. Tell me about the extraneous circumstances that warrant someone being forced into a loveless marriage."

Venelana's eyes sharpened. "The 72 Pillar Clans have been reduced into a fraction of what they once were. Officially, there are only 33 Pillars left, and each and every one is scrambling to ascertain a seat of power and to make that pure-blood devils do not die out."

"And?"

"If Rias is married to Riser, she will belong to the Phenix Clan, and strengthen relations between the Phenix and the Gremory. With their genetics, the offspring will be born as an immortal phoenix with the power of destruction. Do you understand the sheer potential such a child has?"

"So you would sacrifice the happiness of your child for the promise of some super-powered heir?"

"Rias is the heiress of the Gremory Clan. She _will_ at a point, need to get married. There are no other options available, any other potential male suitor for her is either not strong enough or an even _worse_ choice than Riser!"

"And Rias… where do her own feelings and emotions equate in any of this?"

"I was hoping that she would eventually see Riser in a positive light and learn to love him, but the fool doesn't realize that blatantly show-casing his harem disgusts Rias more than it impresses her."

Issei let out a small, sigh. "And so you're telling me that there is no way you will call off Rias' arranged wedding?"

"There are only three ways for this arranged marriage to end. The first is if Rias beats him in a Rating Game and the second is if Riser chooses to call off the wedding on his own part."

"And the third?"

"The third is if, and only if, a more viable suitor which as much clout as Riser takes center stage and proposes to Rias. We would of course cut ties with the Phenix Clan and render apologies, and Rias would be engaged to this person instead."

"In other words, someone like _me_."

Venelana nodded reluctantly. "You meet all the requirements, however, getting Rias engaged to you would be simply transferring one loveless marriage for another."

Issei let out another sigh. He shook his head and placed his hands into a motion that would allow him to think. And he thought and he thought…

And he came to a decision.

"Do it."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I will take Riser's place as her husband; I will get married to her."

Venelana shook her head and actually laughed at the notion.

"And why, why would I get my daughter engaged to someone who easily manipulated her as an unwitting pawn in an outlandish scheme?

Issei's hard gaze reached her eyes.

"Because I will never, _ever_ , force myself on your daughter."

There was a cold chilling silence.

"Do you believe you have that guarantee with Riser? Or would you not care if your powerful grandson was a result of marital rape?"

Venelana opened her mouth, and it promptly closed immediately. Her head shaking in an almost robotic manner.

"Rias won't like this."

"She has no choice."

"Riser won't stand for this. He'll come for you –"

"Let him come" Issei said "Then we shall see that the flames of a phoenix cannot hold a candle to that of a dragon."

Issei promptly stood, a chilling expression on his face.

"No… it cannot even light the match."

* * *

 **Author's Note: And thus the arc begins, as Issei is no longer willing to take things as lightly as before. Of course this arc will have humor and the occasional funny ecchi, but nonetheless, I do hope I have portrayed Issei's growth well enough.**

 **Now for some queries.**

 **1\. Will there be lemons? - Perhaps. Most possibly during or after this arc. Though I like writing ecchi scenes due to their more comedic value, and because well... anyone can write sex scenes. They might not be _good_ but anyone can write them, whereas, convincing ecchi feels more satisfying.**

 **2\. Who are the girls in Issei's Harem?- Every canon harem character, plus or minus a few.**

 **3\. Why is it called the Midas Arc? - You'll find out.**

 **4\. Is Kratos in this story the one from before or after the God of War storylines? - This Kratos is from God of War I, because he'd be waaay too OP if it was after.**

 **5\. Why did I change the secondary tag from Romance to Drama? - Because I got sick of people telling me to advertise the story right. (I don't even know what that means).**

 **Now that's all we have time for today, but be sure to send your queries, concerns, thoughts and other kind remarks. As always, thank you for reading, and kindly review.**

 _ **Silent**_ **_Songbird._**


	23. Clouds and Rainbows

**Life has been getting hectic, but I finally found time to put up this chapter. And for those of you wondering, no, I have not abandoned Prince of Darkness, I will get back to it... once I'm done with my mid-terms.**

* * *

 **~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Chapter 22:**

 **Clouds and Rainbows**

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Neutral Territory**

 **No Man's Land**

Mittelt let a shudder of nostalgia pass through her as she navigated the dark and narrow passageways of the No Man's Land. With a red lollipop in her mouth and dressed in a darker version of her Lolita outfit, complete with white and black striped leggings and dark shoes, she would have drawn much attention to herself if she hadn't been smart enough to don a greyish hooded cloak.

She drank in the sights of the environment, recalling that it was one of the few stretches of land that _wasn't_ being monopolized by any of the numerous factions in the underworld and belonged to no one in particular. The reason for this was supposedly due to a curse placed upon it by the wife of the original Lucifer, and everyone who had come to own the land or tried to renovate or stake claim to it, had died of odd and mysterious reasons.

This however, did not mean that certain groups of individuals were averse to using it for their own purposes.

The closest owned locations to it were the Bael Territory several thousand kilometers to the east, and the Astaroth Territory another few thousand to the west, and despite being surrounded by tall, jagged and imposing cliffs, empty and abandoned mines and railways, the No Man's Land had rapidly gained the feature of being a haven for thieves, murderers, and some of the seediest sort of folk in the underworld, be it devil, fallen angel, vampire, demon, or ghoul.

Mittelt's eyes scanned through the numerous streets and shops selling all forms of trinkets that were either illusive to gain via normal means, or were lost and banned artifacts. Her nose rumpled as she passed the red light districts, picking up the thick smell of heavy, artificial perfumes, and the musk of horny devils.

She intended on passing through an alleyway, only to roll her eyes at the sight of one of a devil carelessly making 'use' of one of the many 'products' of the district, and as the naked woman seemed to pay no heed to her presence.

Leaving the area, she moved on to the busiest streets in the land, with the atmosphere being one of paltry nonchalance, it was highly recommended that one did not stay idle there for too long, lest they found themselves lighter in pockets, or being dragged off to alleyways for less than stellar purposes.

Her nose rumpled once more in slight annoyance as she familiarized herself with the smells which always came in three distinct flavors: either it was the thick, coppery aroma of blood, the stale stench of alcohol, or the blatant musk of sex.

Though occasionally, there was all three.

The fallen angel removed the lollipop from her mouth with a soft 'pop' as she eventually came to a stop, and stared up into the large imposing sign placed in front of a slightly rickety looking establishment.

 **Esau's Bar**

 _ **Drinks so good you'd sell your birthright for it!**_

Despite the tacky catchphrase, Mittelt would find it hard to disagree with the statement. Moreover, the bar held home to more than _just_ drinks.

She walked in, her heels making silent knocking noises against the wooden floor, her eyes idly noting that the bar was dimly lit, as what looked like lightbulbs, but were in fact, a specie of rare fireflies hung saliently in the air, as though being maintained by psychic forces.

The tables around her were filled with equally shady characters, and she could spot at the corner of the room, an odd looking, black-haired, pale skinned girl who eyed her suspiciously. Mittelt ignored the sudden exposure she felt on her neck, and instead idly glanced around the room, finding it filled with more and more shady looking characters. There was a man with short, spiky silver hair and a blue jacket, with one leg propped up against the table, idly drinking, with a long, dangerous looking katana leaning beside table that practically screamed death. To another table, not too far from the man, was what appeared to be a demon, red-haired and dressed in extremely skimpy attire of leather, she was surrounded with several empty bottles which indicated that she'd been drinking herself to stupor. She glanced in Mittelt's direction, and the Fallen Angel looked away, almost swearing that there was an unconscious blue penguin under the demon's table.

She paid very little heed to the oddities of the bar, even as she noticed with a small level of trepidation as to how several eyes turned in her direction, as though evaluating if the newcomer was a potential threat, target, or something more. Her gait however, displayed none of her unease as she moved, expertly, and as though she had done it a thousand times before, towards the main counter, where a seven-foot tall, extremely bearded and hairy looking man in a bearskin tunic polished a glass cup.

"What'll ya have?" the man had asked in a gruff, coarse voice that sounded like sandpaper rubbing against granite.

She removed the lollipop to speak. "I'll have the usual Es-chan."

The man seemed to blink for several seconds, before Mittelt pulled back her hood and his eyes widened in realization.

"Well, well, well – As I live an' breathe. If it ain't the Cream Angel herself."

Mittelt's left eye twitched. "Es-chan, you know I hate being called that… and I haven't gone by that title in over six decades."

The man let a smirk come up to his face. "Heh, I thought I'd never see your skinny little ass again after the stunt you pulled on Khan."

She put the lollipop into her mouth, her gaze filled with mirth. "Not all apples fall close to the tree, and Khan-chan might have well been an orange."

"Hah! You got that right!" the man said in a hearty bellow "I doubt that stupid little fella woulda known what 'ta do with a sword if it were buried six inches insida his chest!"

Mittelt let a small smile come to her face as a large pitcher appeared beside her, and then the tall man proceeded to pour a luscious red liquid into it.

There was a shuffle of movement, and Mittelt noticed that the silver-haired man in the blue coat had vanished.

"Es-chan, who was –?"

"Bounty hunter. Assassin. Soldier of fortune. One or the other… powerful lad, a Nephilim if I recall."

"A N-N-Nephilim?"

"Never got his name. Ve-something. But he's _real_ dangerous – so the less you know 'bout him, the better off you'll be."

She nodded, slowly, one hand removing the lollipop and the other reaching out and shakily grasping her drink as she let herself gulp it down. There were beings in the world she felt it was safer to avoid like the plague.

"Now, seeing that you're back… does that mean you've finally –"

"No." she said quickly, a little too quickly, she realized. "I haven't found him, but I haven't given up either."

The bearded man shook his head. "Take it from a guy who knows a thing or two 'bout revenge. Give up on that little quest. There ain't much you can do 'gainst a god, even less so when you ain't got no clue 'bout what god he's 'posed to be."

"I _know_ what god he's supposed to be! I just… can't… remember."

"And you ain't _gonna_ remember. They're _gods_ , all-powerful jackasses who feel that we're all bunch of Legos to build and destroy."

"Well I'll show him what happens when you step on a Lego one time too many."

The bearded man snorted. "He wiped most of your memory the firs' time around, hell, you remembering what he did at all is a miracle. What odds d'ya think you got 'gainst a being like that?"

Mittlet let her fingers curl around the handle of her cup. She had told Issei to let it go, and she'd be _damned_ if she told him the truth – that she was still searching for the asshole. Of course, despite her search all these years, she didn't know what she would do if she eventually did find the being.

Now however…

She shook her head. This was _her_ problem, not the Red Dragon Emperor's.

And speaking of said person, "Hey Esau-chan… do you still have your contacts in the rings?"

The man rose a slight eyebrow at the change in topic. "Demi-human trafficking? What, are ya in need of a busty dark elf to pour out all that sexual frustration?"

Her left eye-twitched as she clenched the cup. "No –"

"Good thing too. You couldn't afford one."

"I'm asking for a _friend_."

"You ain't got no _friends_."

Mittlet's eye twitched further. "Es-chan, your lack of faith in me is really disturbing."

Esau paused, his hands busy with the shining of another goblet, before he shook his head.

"I ain't sure what you got yourself into Mits, but things aren't the same as they used to. The _entire_ smuggling ring – everything about it, _all_ of it, is now owned by one fella – and he ain't the type of fella you wanna go up against."

This was news to the fallen angel, as her eyes narrowed at the information. One man was in charge of the _entire_ ring of smuggling that happened in the underworld and the supernatural world? How did that even happen?

"Tell ya _friend_ , that if he ain't interested in the merchandise, he's got no business looking for the store."

"What's his name, the person who owns the smuggling ring?"

"Mits, now I know you ain't ever listened to me, and without you I'd be burning in hell now – but I'm telling you, _don't_ go up against this man."

"I won't. As I said, I'm asking for a friend."

Esau stared at her for a few seconds, his fingers idly rubbing a glass with a wet rag, before he turned around and sighed.

"Midas."

"W-what?"

"His name, Midas."

Slowly, gears began turning in the Fallen Angel's head.

"Midas, King Midas… the Golden King, the Wealthiest Being in Existence… _that_ Midas?"

"You know of a different one?"

Mittelt shook her head. "Why would he want to own –"

The door to the bar was abruptly kicked open, preventing the fallen angel from completing her sentence, and every single inhabitant turned to find a man standing at the door, a large, bulky being who wore a coat that was clearly made from a lion, a _nemean_ lion, Mittelt noted, and he wore a tunic as well, that did nothing to hide the bulging muscles of his form.

"Is this the Esau Bar?" the man asked, before turning to the similarly large bartender "Are you the brother of Jacob?"

Mittelt let her hood go up as the tension in the room climbed.

"Yeah, Im' Esau. What's it to ya boy?"

"My name is Heracles." The man said, walking forward, "Directly descended from the legendary warrior himself." He paused, as though the declaration was supposed to evoke awe and fear.

"I heard you can find anything and anyone… and I'm searching for a girl."

"I'm sorry lad, I ain't much help with relationship issues. Have you thought about playing for the other team?"

A collection of snickers went up in the bar.

"You think you're funny? Do you think you'd still be funny once I tear your tongue out of your mouth?"

As though to prove a point, Heracles slammed his fist into a table, and it _tore_ like it was made of foam.

Esau stared on blankly, and shrugged. "I'd make a great mime I reckon."

Heracles grit his teeth as more snickers went up.

"A girl; black hair, pale skin, two bite marks on her neck. Have. You. Seen. Her?"

The description struck a chord with Mittelt, and her gaze turned to a corner of the bar where someone similar had resided, only to find it suspiciously empty.

When had she –

"I can't say I have, and I can't say I haven't. That description could be anyone."

"She carries around an _axe_ guitar."

"Ain't seen no axe guitar today, nor any day for that matter."

Heracles scoffed, before he turned around. "This has been a total waste of my time. Every second I spend here is a second she uses to get farther away from me."

He reached the door, then stopped. "But know this, once I find her, and I realize that she _had_ been here – you will pray that you had been allowed to burn in hell."

The door slammed, and the bar once more fell into a deep silence.

Mittelt watched as Esau let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, before he brought out a strange, thick black bottle and placed it on the counter.

"I ain't gonna be able to cover for you much longer. You need to get the hell out of the underworld and fast – or the Greeks will get ya."

Mittelt rose an eyebrow at the strange man. "Es-chan, who are you talking –"

Her answer came in the form of the bottle shifting into the form of beautiful girl who floated in mid-air.

On witnessing the young teen up close, Mittelt's first thoughts, were to doubt her sexual orientation.

Her second, was the realization that she was in the presence of the Vampire Princess.

"Es-chan... keep the drinks coming, something tells me I'm going to need it."

* * *

 **Human Realm**

 **Pacific Ocean**

There were very few things that Iris, the goddess of rainbows disliked. She was a generally happy goddess, and though she did not have much power like the big twelve or like the titans or even some demigods and heroes, she was content in being a messenger for them. Often, young adventuring demigods utilized her domain to communicate to one another and gave her tribute, and she was happy with this, finding it joyous to be able to aid and help the demigods in their journey.

She had a position as a messenger, and though she was a minor goddess, seeing as how she had to report to the _actual_ messenger of the gods, Hermes, she enjoyed her days filled with beautiful cheers, and there was nothing greater than sharing the joy of rainbows to all that she encountered.

It was of course no surprise that her senses tingled and she felt the existence of not one, not two, but _three_ consecutive rainbows appearing in the same place, looping from one end to another!

Despite being busy with most of the tasks currently assigned to her, and several important messages she had to attend to, there was no way the goddess of rainbows was going to miss out on such an event.

She had arrived over the ocean, her godly form manifesting in the appearance of a thin, slender woman with rainbow colored hair and eyes, dressed in a long-flowing, traditional Greek white gown and she looked up over the occurrence, smiling in happy bliss.

Or at least, she _was_ before a portion of the ocean seemed to _leap_ out and grab her.

Her first thought was perhaps Poseidon was calling for her, but as soon as the liquid came into contact with her, she realized that it _wasn't_ water.

"Heavens! What in Zeus' name is this?"

The liquid bonded to her as though it were some form of supernatural adhesive, and she tried to tear it off or even cut it, but the second she touched the liquid, her hand likewise became stuck. The glue like object followed in such a manner, sticking her hands together and binding her legs.

Slowly, her strength seemed to be sapped – _drained_ away, and the goddess found herself slowly and slowly falling sleepier and sleepier.

Eventually, the liquid soon enveloped her entire body, and she found let herself succumb to its pleasurable, relaxing ministrations, and her mind went blank.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~

 **Pacific Ocean**

 **Uninhabited Island**

"If someone had told me that I'd one day be spending my afternoon capturing the Greek goddess of rainbows, I'd say that the person had been smoking something really strong."

Issei stared at the unconscious goddess that was being bound by his familiar against a tree, as DLC extended herself and shapeshifted into a long rope that coiled around the form of the unconscious being and firmly attached her to the tree.

 **Goddess of the Rainbow**

 **Iris Lv. 345**

She was probably weak for a goddess, Issei noted, especially considering the fact that she wasn't even a combat oriented being, and most likely, had not been in a proper fight to the death.

Despite that, her level trumped his so much it was almost unfair.

Of course, despite the level difference, she had no apt way of stopping DLC or ensuring that the slime didn't cover her. DLC then corroded away her strength and portions of her godly power, allowing Issei to creep in and cast hundreds of Sleep on her in rapid succession.

He had almost expected some sort of snarky remark from Logic about his clever plan of manipulating water to create rainbows and draw the being, or some homicidal comment from Darkness telling him to drain her powers for himself, or even the occasional perverted one-liner from Carnality about him not missing out on having sex with a _literal_ goddess.

Instead, he was regarded with strange tranquility.

It was relaxing… but at the same time it was eerily discomforting.

"Master, can I have some fun with her? Can I? Can I?"

"That depends on whether or not she's willing to co-operate –"

 _Ping!_

 **You have an incoming call from – Sona Sitri.**

 **Would you like to accept?**

Naruto had never eventually found out how Issei _did_ get his number to ask him the question about seals, and the Gamer never would tell him that his Gamer system came with an in-built communication system that was wired to every other communication system he owned.

Emails, cellphones, social media accounts, all of it was accessible instantly, regardless of location or internet connection. It was the greatest gift anyone would ask for.

Issei picked up the call, hearing the voice on the other end.

" _Hyoudou-kun?_ "

"Yes my lovely _megame_ -chan?"

" _Did you just form that nickname up on the fly? – Never mind that – where are you?_ "

Issei glanced around him and shrugged. "Somewhere off the coast of the pacific ocean."

" _What? What could you possibly be doing there?_ "

"Currently taking actions to find out where your sister is being held." Issei gave a stern glare to DLC as the familiar was happily groping the goddess "No Dil-chan, no groping the rainbow lady."

" _Hyoudou-kun, you know quite well that the Satans ordered us to take no action against the Greeks."_

"Now there's a little loophole Sirzechs forgot." Issei said, his eyes glancing around the little island as he contemplated using it as a base, "He ordered _you_ to take no action against the Greeks. I am not a devil, and I take no orders from Sirzechs."

" _Hyoudou-kun, we were supposed to wait for the –"_

"For what, the _ball?_ "

" _Yes Hyoudou-kun, the ball_."

Issei massaged his eyebrows as he tried to understand what he was hearing.

"I just find it _ridiculous,_ that after explaining to the Satans what you saw and the situation at hand, their response is to organize, a _ball."_

" _Calling it a ball would be a misnomer_ ," Sona said " _It is more or less a gathering of the most powerful and influential devils in the underworld. Just that there will be music, dancing, refreshments and entertainment – and of course, all the secret politicking that goes on in the background._ "

Issei sighed, lazily kicking up a stone. "And _why_ exactly is this a good thing?"

" _We've discussed this already Hyoudou-kun. A ball would be the best place for us to come to a decision, and for the Satans to make a public comment. If they were to declare a large meeting, it might set alarm and unease into people, so it is more ideal to disguise the meeting as another quaint, extravaganza of the upper echelons of society_."

He tossed the stone through the air, watching as it departed with a supersonic boom thanks to his Marksmanship skill classifying the projectile as a ranged weapon.

"Still sounds ridiculous."

The Gamer could hear her exasperation. " _Look at it this way, a ball would be the least likely place for an invasion – not even gods would be brazen enough to attack a venue filled with dozens of the strongest devils in the underworld_."

Issei felt a cold chill run down his spine.

"Sona… I think you just might have tempted fate."

" _What?_ "

The Gamer shook his head, before glancing at the unconscious goddess, and wondering if it would be that easy to capture the fates.

"It's nothing. I just have a bad feeling about this."

He heard her sigh. " _Relax Hyoudou-kun. You have faced off against extremely troubling foes without batting an eyelash – I doubt you have anything to fear from simply being in a room filled with liars and politicians._ "

"Even when those liars and politicians are also powerful opponents?"

" _No one will be fighting there Hyoudou-kun_."

Issei let out a dry chuckle. "There are higher odds of Michael giving a lap dance to Sirzechs, than there are of there being no fight."

There was a long silence on the other end.

Issei heard Sona clear her throat. " _Speaking of which, ironically, the meeting between the leaders of the factions will also hold place during the ball – whilst the guests are being entertained, Azazel, Michael, the Satans and Alucard will be behind closed doors to discuss matters."_

"So there _are_ chances of Michael giving Sirzechs a lap dance?"

" _Can you not put that image in my mind a_ second _time?_ "

There was the shuffling sound of movement, and Issei glanced over to Iris, realizing that the goddess was stirring from her sleep as DLC instantly moved into position to restrain her further if need be.

"Er, I've got to go. That reminds me, how is your training going?"

" _If you consider applying runes that make me feel as though I am wading through the bottom of the Mariana Trench whilst enduring four times the gravity and then leaving me on the floor as training – then yes, my training is going_ splendid _._ "

Issei let a small smirk pop up on his face. His clone had picked up how to create and apply Gravity Seals, and he decided to implement it on Sona.

"Hey, in my defense, you said you could handle it – that you needed to get to Kokabiel's level of strength as quickly as possible, no matter the cost."

" _That is because it would be glaringly obvious to anyone at the ball that I could not have beaten Kokabiel on my own… but did you really have to tickle my feet afterwards?_ "

"Would you rather I explore up and down your body with my hands while you were laying on the ground, unable to move from feeling four times normal gravity?" Issei said, before pausing in realization.

"Wait, you probably would, maybe you have an incapacitation fetish to go with the possession one."

" _I swear Hyoudou-kun, one of these days I will strip you down naked, chain you to a chair, and make you watch me pleasure myself without being able to do anything but watch."_

There was silence.

" _Did I say that out loud?_ "

Issei's grin stretched to larger extents. "Yes, you did."

" _You are a horrible, corrupting influence Hyoudou-kun._ "

"Yes," Issei said, his voice tinting with pride "Yes I am."

Sona sighed. " _Just… be safe._ "

"I will."

 _Ping!_

 **Call Conversation Ended. Conversation has been added to the Voice Logs, and can be listened to again at your leisure time.**

 **Quest Parameters Updated!**

 **Main Quest – The God Delusion**

 **Rescue Serafall Sitri**

 **Stop the Divine War**

 **Kill The Anomaly – Kratos**

 **Optional Objectives:**

 **Attend the Devil Gathering**

Closing the notification, Issei turned to the goddess who struggled in DLC's firm adhesive grasp, but found herself unable to escape.

"Now then…"

"Who are you? How dare you abduct me –" she struggled to move, but she was going nowhere whilst being restrained by DLC, and while he had casted a hundred Shadow Anchor on her.

"Can we skip the paltry abductor and abductee conversation?" Issei cut in, rolling his eyes "I have less than eight days to kill one of the most powerful people alive, so time isn't really something I can afford to waste right now."

The being stared at him in an expression Issei would assume was the equivalent of a jaw drop, before she seemed to comply with his request.

"You want information from me."

"Now we're getting somewhere."

She shook her head vehemently.

"I will not compromise the Olympians! I will tell you nothing!"

"Perfect… I was hoping you'd say that."

Issei turned to DLC and nodded.

 **Dating Mode Activated!**

There was a blast of concentrated _lust_ that Issei sent rolling in waves out of his body, and _literally_ manifested as a gust of wind, causing the goddess's eyes widened to unbelievable extents.

"I-impossible… only Eros, or Aphrodite could possibly –"

"Aphrodite? Eros? No, I am something greater." Issei said "I am the Incarnate of Jashin – God of Carnality." Issei said his eyes flicking red as he activated the Jashinist technique "Blood Impulse."

He watched as the goddess' eyes seemed to glaze over and he cracked his knuckles.

"Now then…" his lips morphed into a smirk as Kami's Fingers activated "Let's see how long a goddess can last."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

 **Vacant Instant Dungeon**

 **1:00 AM**

Cloud was having a good time.

"UP AND AT IT MAGGOTS!"

 _PRRRRRHHH!_

The harsh sergeant whistle blew, and the blood clone of Hyoudou Issei watched as three startled beings leapt up from their sleeping position on their grounds, each in various shades of confusion.

Correction, Cloud was having a _great_ time. Despite having to develop and constantly maintain a skill to cover up what he was doing so that the original wouldn't get suspicious, he was about to have one hell of a blast.

He watched as his prisoners- er, _students_ , woke up from their slumber, and began looking as though they were clones of Robinson Crusoe finding themselves stranded on a deserted isle.

They were, in order, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba.

Despite having failed at his original goal of creating an Instant Dungeon containing beautiful dark elves he could ravage to his heart's content, though he had increased the level to a formidable skill and eventually created new varieties of it. One of the new varieties was this time warp dungeon, which made time on the inside half of what it was on the outside.

That is, a minute inside the dungeon was thirty seconds in the real world, and likewise, an hour inside the dungeon would only have been thirty minutes outside of it.

He had also gained several new dungeons, but those would be explored at a later time.

 **ID Create/Escape has reached Level 30!**

 **The following dungeon types are now available:**

 **Normal Dungeons:**

 **Zombie Dungeon**

 **Ghost Dungeon**

 **Beast Dungeon**

 **Kobold Dungeon**

 **Titan Dungeon**

 **Special Dungeons:**

 **Underwater Dungeon**

 **Inverse Dungeon – Your movements are reversed and randomized**

 **Gravity Dungeon I – Gravity is multiplied by 2**

 **Gravity Dungeon II – Gravity is multiplied by 4**

 **Time Warp Dungeon I – Time inside is cut by half outside**

 **Challenge Dungeon I – Face off against a stronger mob and boss**

With this new dungeon, he did however, decide to continue on his task of tormentin-er… _training_ , Rias' peerage, as he was given veto authority over them.

Which was why, Cloud found it amusing as he had been able to abduct all three of them and put them in training clothes without their knowledge. The "training clothes" were as a matter of fact, skin-tight but highly flexible black latex for both Akeno and Koneko, which showed the voluptuous curves of the former and her large chest size which often made Cloud's mouth water, and the lithe but sensual form, legs and butt of the latter, to which Cloud would not object to having rub against his body.

And of course, Kiba was dressed in a normal Kuoh Academy tracksuit.

Cloud on the other hand was dressed in a dark black tight shirt with camo trousers, boots, a cap, dark shades and a whistle around his neck.

"Hyoudou? What in the world is –"

 _PRRRRRHHH!_

The harsh whistle blew once more and all three people had to cover their ears. "Henceforth, you will refer to me as Commander Cloud or Cloud-sensei for the duration of our training."

"Hyou-"

 _PRRRRRHHH!_

"First, I am not Hyoudou Issei, I am Cloud. You could call me his evil twin, his long lost brother, or simply the badass version of himself that he would be if he got over his whining."

Akeno looked over to Koneko, and the girl's eyes narrowed.

"He smells almost identical to sempai… but their energies aren't the same level…"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "As Koneko has probably informed you, Issei is one of the few humans capable of utilizing chakra in his system, which explains several of his abilities. I'm a clone of Issei, but you will treat me like the original."

Akeno's eyes widened "A clone? You're a clone of Hy-"

 _PRRRRRHHH!_

"I said you will refer to me as sensei!"

"You're a clone!"

"Really? That's what you're up about? Not the fact that Issei can create pocket dimensions, but that he can create clones?"

Akeno opened her mouth to speak, but found it closing slowly.

"Anyway, now that we've come to an understanding," Cloud said, cracking his knuckles "Rias gave Issei authority over your training, or rather, your lack of thereof. He of course, is currently occupied with deicidal thoughts, so starting now, I am going to whip your sorry asses into shape."

Kiba glanced at him from the corner of his eye and looked to be doubting his sanity, his normally smiling face looking nothing like the handsome pretty boy due to the bags underneath his eyes and his clearly annoyed expression. Koneko instead, seemed to radiate with an aura of annoyance and anger.

"I'm going home." Koneko said, before turning around.

 _PRRRRRHHH!_

The nekomata flinched at the whistle and Cloud shook his head. "This is one of my pocket dimensions, which means you only leave when I say you can leave."

There was a sudden cold chill silence.

The jovial, happy-go-lucky air that was present rapidly descended into one of cold, frigid realization that they were indeed at the mercy of the insane clone of Hyoudou Issei.

"Ara, if this is your idea of a prank, it's not funny." Akeno said, smiling as gleefully as she could be, but Cloud easily noticed the slight, subtle shift in her demeanor as she looked about ready to launch an attack if need be.

Cloud pulled off his dark glasses and stared at them with dark, grim eyes. "I was able to abduct _all_ of you, while you were asleep, _change_ your clothes and drag you here without so much as waking you. What if I had been an enemy? What if I had possessed the intent to do harm? You'd either be dead or worse at this very second."

The silence seemed to stretch.

Kiba looked at him strangely, his posture becoming defensive. "I'm afraid it still isn't grounds for you to suddenly force training on us."

"That's why I'm offering you a deal," Cloud brought out a small timer and set it for five minutes "You have five minutes. If any of you are able to land a single hit on me – one, definitive hit on me in a spar, then I will let you go."

The three devils felt insulted.

"As a matter of fact, I won't even use the Boosted Gear."

Correction, the three devils had never felt more insulted in their entire lives.

There was a shared glance amongst them, and they all collectively gave a small subtle nod.

Lightning began to crackle around Akeno's form. "Ara ara, I'm afraid you're going to regret that decision Cloud-san."

Koneko cracked her knuckles. "I still owe you for what you did to me sempai."

Kiba sighed, two swords appearing in his hands. "I believe Hyoudou seems to be vastly underestimating us if he thinks we can't handle a clone of his with less than half his power."

Cloud craned his neck, before smirking, as he brought his hands forward in a "come-hither" motion.

The timer began.

"Let's see what you've got."

Koneko was the first to charge, her left hand arching backwards for what was clearly a straight, and Cloud almost shook his head at the obvious attack.

The slight level difference didn't matter due to his own skills that were _broken_. Perfect Vision when used in combination with Assassin's Grace _literally_ made the entire world move in slow motion, and whilst it would not be as effective against stronger opponents, it was overkill against the three.

Cloud genially dodged Koneko's punches in the most graceful manner possible, avoiding an uppercut by performing splits, avoiding a high kick by curving his body backwards, evading a left hook by simply swirling around the attack.

To an outside perspective, it would look more as though Cloud was _dancing_ than he was fighting, and to prove it, his Dance Mastery skill actually went up by one level.

Of course, he detected Kiba charge at him with his swords from what the boy had hoped to be his blind spot, and Cloud smirked.

 _CLANG!_

"T-that's i-impossible!"

Cloud blocked the dual swords cold by catching them between his index finger and thumb, and locked them in place to ensure that Kiba couldn't move. Steel Skin, Perfect Vision and Pugilist were essential in making the catch and hold, and Cloud almost completely reveled in Kiba's slackjawed expression.

Then just to try out a hypothesis, Cloud used another skill.

"Dress Break."

The swords rapidly unraveled and disintegrated into nothingness, leaving Kiba off balance to which Cloud capitalized on by tripping the boy, making him fall first into one of Koneko's right straights. Even Cloud had to wince at the sickening _crunch_ sound he heard that signified a breaking cartilage, which sent Kiba soaring backwards with a clearly bloody nose.

"And Rook takes Knight… wait, you do realize you can't capture members of your own army right?"

Koneko growled at him and restarted her attacks with more vigor, to which Cloud responded to by dodging in more comically fascinating manners. He performed splits, cartwheels, prances, and even break-dancing moves like the worm and the robot, using them to evade her strikes like they were measly flies on the back of a whale. To drive the point home, he spanked the girl's butt with Kami's Fingers active every time she made a mistake and then did so while adding extra commentary.

 _Smack!_

"You're dead. If the opponent is faster than you, you need to compensate with grapples and counters – _grabbing_ feels good, I assure you."

 _Smack!_

"Dead again. It was a good kick, but you overextended, and your opponent could catch the limb and break it – you have strong legs though, that'll _definitely_ come in handy."

 _Smack!_

"Dead once more. You're putting your all into every swing, you'll tire yourself out and leave more openings that way – you need to learn to _pace_ yourself, or you'll never last long."

 _Smack!_

"Deader than ever. If you're running low on steam, I'd recommend switching to a defensive stance rather than launching desperate attacks – there are certain _positions_ for when you're getting tired."

In the end, Koneko stopped, panting and gasping out of both exhaustion and obvious arousal, unable to keep up her assault, nor keep up with Cloud's stimulating counters. Her face flushed utterly red, and Cloud didn't know if it was from anger, embarrassment, or the spankings which sent waves of pleasure into her instead of pain.

"Sempai… I… will… kill you…"

Cloud chuckled, for some reason, teasing Koneko was certainly amusing. He didn't know if it was because she'd want to beat him up for it, or if it was because he was secretly a lolicon and he couldn't get enough of her. Before he could muse further on it, his Sense Danger skill kicked in, and he performed a limbo-style dodge by arching his entire body back, saving him from a bolt of lightning that would have roasted him on the spot.

He turned towards the source, finding Akeno flying in the air not too far away, before he shook his head.

A minor application of Sprint and Body Flicker took him behind her in seconds, where rather than attacking her, he wrapped his arms around her for a tight, from-behind bear hug.

It was only made much better by the fact that she was in tight spandex.

One of his greatest ideas so far.

"W-what a-are you –"

"Your strength lies in utilizing your lightning to cause massive damage to opponents from afar, but you couldn't hit me while Koneko-chan was fighting me due to the risk of getting her caught in the crossfire. In order words, you're a purely long range combatant."

A minor application of Shadow Anchor made her lose her flight as she descended from the sky, almost screaming as she was about to hit the earth, with Cloud still wrapped around her.

Rather than let the attractive Queen become a bloody smear on the floor, Cloud grabbed the girl bridal style before he utilized chakra to bleed off the impact from landing squarely on the ground, ignoring the minor cracks that formed from the impact.

She stared at him with wide eyes for all of three seconds.

Then she attempted to strike him with lightning, only for Cloud to swerve his body in a serpentine-like manner, literally turning to a human letter 'S' to narrowly avoid the bolt, and dropping the Lightning Priestess unto the ground like a sack of hot potatoes.

"Isn't that chivalrous? Frying the prince who rescued you?"

"Ara ara, coming from someone who kidnapped, stripped me naked and put me into these _naughty_ clothes?" Akeno said, stretching forward as the spandex pressed against her chest and let out the impression of her nipples "I do hope my purity is still intact."

Cloud scoffed. "With the sheer size of the _toys_ I saw hidden in your house, something tells me that I am not to blame for any lack of your purity."

Akeno managed to have a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. "Fufufu, I have no idea as to what you mean Hyoudou-san."

Before Cloud could offer out a retort, he managed to dodge two sharp sword swings, before leaping over a trio of swords that launched at his feet. This seemed to have been a decoy however, as Koneko was up in the air, waiting to land the much needed decisive hit.

Cloud merely smirked, moving with demon-like grace as he evaded the attack, and responded with one final, extra powerful spank to the girl's backside.

They both landed, and Cloud paid no attention to how her body twitched afterwards as he faced Kiba's final assault.

"Sword Birth!"

Swords began forming from the ground like weeds would grow from grass and they raced towards Cloud. Rather than dodge or evade, simply stood his ground, and then, in a single motion, slammed his fist into the ground.

"Critical Strike!"

The resulting effect was the swords shattering like a golf ball through glass, as pillars of earth rose up and the ground split in two, leaving a massive, long fissure-like crack from the point of impact all the way to where Kiba stood, and the boy fell back, flat on his ass as he couldn't believe his eyes.

 _Brrring!_

The alarm rang throughout the vast fields of the Instant Dungeon, and Cloud turned towards it, putting it off as he dusted his hands.

"Wasn't that a rather _entertaining_ battle?" Cloud said, craning his neck "Now, if it isn't obvious yet, your weaknesses are appalling. Akeno can't do anything from long range if allies are nearby, so you need to gain some close range techniques, and possibly some martial arts in there as well. Kiba, you have speed but you lack in power and precision, and Koneko-chan, you have the stamina and the strength, but you need to work on getting your speed up to snuff, and also having some mid to long range techniques.

"Sempai… cheated…" Koneko said, panting slightly.

"I didn't cheat. Anything goes, any weapon, any rule, anything." Cloud said seriously "The goal is victory, and I'd rather have you three come back from battle and be regarded as dirty fighters than I would have you not come back at all."

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "Battle? What battle? You make it sound like there is some sort of impending danger."

Cloud looked grim. "There is. The opponents coming are people even _Issei_ can't beat on his own."

The silence returned.

"Now that we've established that you can't beat me, a _clone_ with only half of the power of the original, do you really believe you _don't_ need training?"

His response was an even longer, thicker silence.

"Well then," Cloud said "Let's get to work."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~

 **Human Realm**

 **Coast of Pacific Ocean**

"Eleven times? That's kind of disappointing for a goddess. I expected more."

Issei said, paying no heed to the still shuddering, unconscious form of Iris as he dusted his palms.

 _Ping!_

 **Act of Carnal Pleasure! Gained +15 to all Stats!**

 **Congratulations! You attained 100 Points in Wisdom!**

 **You are no longer considered a fool!**

 **You have now disabled the conventional response list. The training wheels are off, and now all choices you make are truly yours and yours alone to bear the fruits and consequences.**

Issei blinked. The response list was gone?

 **In exchange for this newfound responsibility, you now have mastery over situations and can find a "Third Option" available to you when forced with an ultimatum. This also shows in your mastery of mana, and grants you with a "per-second" Mana Regeneration Rate that is 10% of your current Wisdom.**

Issei rapidly did the mental math. His current Wisdom was 104, which meant that his Mana Regeneration rate was 10% of that which was equal to 10.4MP per second. 10.4MP per second multiplied by sixty seconds equaled 624MP per minute.

Then considering the fact that only offensive/battle based spells consumed MP thanks to his Renaissance Man perk, and a myriad of his skills utilized Light Magic or Demonic Magic, it meant that he could, in essence spam as much Mana Based skills as he wished.

The Gamer wanted to smirk, until he remembered the sheer overwhelming strength of the people he was facing. These were people fast enough to shatter sound barriers, and their fights could last _seconds_ instead of minutes.

He also doubted Fireball and Flash Freeze would be enough to kill gods.

"Note to self: learn or create more Mana based skills."

Issei mused, turning to find DLC satisfactorily looking blissful as she leaned against a tree.

"That felt so good master! We're unbeatable together!"

"As fun as that might have been… we didn't really gain much from her."

The only information he had gleaned so far that was of huge import was that the only ones who seemed to be interested in the war were the Olympians, and that all the other minor gods and goddesses as well as the titans were all either against it or undecided, with a very few minority wanting the bloodshed.

However, the ultimate groundbreaker was Zeus, and if Zeus accepted to go to war, they would have no choice but to reluctantly take up arms as well.

More _importantly_ however, was that both Zeus and Poseidon were completely and utterly unaware of everything that had been happening, and it seemed that it would remain that way, in some form of conspiracy.

The rest of the gods had been careful not to entrust sensitive information with Iris, so Issei was left in the dark about what was actually going on and the larger scale of plans. It was also unfortunate, that Iris hadn't known where Serafall was being kept prisoner.

However, what he did find out from her was that there were two gods who _weren't_ Olympians that wanted bloodshed, and those two would have to be his targets, as hopefully, they'd be able to shed some more light on the plans.

 _Ping!_

 **You have a message from Venelana Gremory: She wishes to know your current status on the Marriage.**

"Really? This, _now_?" Issei said, his eye twitching "If I don't stop the war in the next eight days, there will be no damned _place_ to get married."

When Issei had left Venelana, he had done so with his mind analyzing the intricacies of Devil Politics. He had not, however, been expecting to have been hit with a feature of his game system that he never knew existed.

 **Codex –** **Prestige**

 **You may utilize available Prestige Points to garner favors, resolve conflicts, and purchase new and available options for your spy agency.**

 **You have selected the option – "Marriage Engagement"**

 **The selected party is – "Rias Gremory"**

 **This has cost you 2000 Prestige Points.**

"That's a pretty hefty sum for a marriage."

 **Prestige Points are the influence points you have in the world, and while they possess a passive effect when stacked up, they can also be spent in order to perform certain key actions in the world that would not be available if you did not possess them. These actions can be something as minor as gaining a trade contract for rare and valuable goods, to running for positions in the Supernatural World, to purchasing land and castles, pulling strings for allies and even attaining godhood.**

 **Note: Devil politics play a factor and may have huge consequences afterwards. Would you like to view the Politics Guide?**

It would be stupid to turn down a lesson in politics from a near-omniscient video game.

 **Political Conundrum**

 **Venelana wishes Rias to get engaged to a strong, suitable male that would guarantee the future of the Clan and has picked Riser as the candidate. Rias wishes to marry whoever she wants, and hates Riser.**

 **Intervention: You have decided to end Rias' arranged marriage… by becoming the one she gets married to.**

 **Analysis: If Rias Gremory marries Riser, she would take up his name and be married into his clan, this is a form of loss for the Gremory Clan but a boon for the Phenix Clan.**

 **Intervention Pros: Rias will remain the Gremory Clan ruler. She will retain her last name. The Gremory Clan gains the boon of their leader being married to The Red Dragon Emperor. The potential promise of a child being born with devil and dragon blood.**

 **Intervention Cons: Possible Fallout with the Phenix Clan. Possible hatred and scorn of the Devil Pure-Blood Supremacists. Possible extreme hatred and scorn of Rias Gremory.**

Issei shook his head as he closed up the screens. There wasn't anything in there that he didn't already know, but seeing it appear so cut clean and clear was just making it look worse.

It wasn't like there was any other option… Rias _had_ to get married, and she wasn't some sort of fairy tale princess who could happily get married to the person she met and fell in love with – if he wasn't someone of notable power and influence, her parents would never approve.

Speaking of parents…

Issei let his mind wander over to his blood clone, which had seemingly been grinding nothing but the ID Create skill, and other than hitting a few casinos, it hadn't really gone off the rails or did anything that demanded Issei to dispel it. At the very least, the clone was at least smart enough to appear at home so his parents didn't get worried or suspicious about his absence.

He had often considered telling his parents about everything, but he didn't know how they would take it, or how it would affect his relationship with them. He didn't want to unnecessarily give them nightmares about their only son being out there somewhere, fighting against gods and monsters.

"Master? Are you okay?"

Issei glanced over to his familiar who popped out of his pocket and he shook his head. "Just thinking; I should probably tell someone about all this Gamer stuff already... I don't think I could go it alone for the rest of my life."

"Don't worry Master, you just have to believe in yourself and with your power and imagination, you can do anything!"

Issei snorted. "I'm not perfect Dil-chan. I'm not even that strong."

"But Master is really smart!"

Issei frowned. "Well I am but –"

There was a reason the system separated Intelligence and Wisdom. There was a difference between having knowledge about how to do a lot of things and _applying_ that knowledge in the right situations to bring about the best results.

"Master… why do you do it?"

"Why do I do what?"

"Master is extremely intelligent, but Master has been consciously repressing his intelligence. Master is only using about 20% of his intelligence. Why is that master?"

Issei sighed. "Dil-chan, there's a reason I don't go beyond that 20%. The smarter I get, the more and more I see emotions as useless, and the more they become subjective to what I need to do. As I am now, I already manipulate people and things around me. What do you think would happen if I hit thirty or forty, or a hundred?"

He'd become an impassive, semi-psychopathic Machiavellian robot who considered good and evil as subjective in the completion of his goals.

A Machiavellian robot with damn near-omniscience.

It spelt 'bad-end' all round.

"But Master… what other option do you have now?"

Issei frowned. That was indeed true. What other option did he have but to push past his limits? To let go of certain sticky areas of morality and just did things with the mentality that the ends justified the means?

"Gah! Does my improved Wisdom stat mean _nothing?_ "

Honestly, the Gamer had felt that the Wisdom stat was the one that he never truly understood as Wisdom was supposedly the ability to make good judgement calls and choices with his intelligence.

He sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair as his mind was momentarily distracted by the concept of his stats.

He also wondered about the Luck stat. With the current buffs he had on it, his luck stat was just shy of a hundred and fifty, but he didn't feel any particularly luckier, nor had he really felt the effects of luck. Supposedly, luck affected everything in gaming from critical hit chances and rates, to drop rates and the rarity of drops. And if the Game system was as powerful as he assumed, then could the Luck stat also effect even the entire world?

Then of course there was charisma which was _definitely_ important in the long run.

"Alright... I think it's about time I allocated these."

Issei allocated twenty five points into the Charisma Stat, bringing it up to a hundred, and then added an additional forty-six points to Luck, also bringing it up to a hundred.

With fifty-nine stat points left, the gamer pumped it into Vitality and then re-examined his new stats.

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 35 [49.05%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 5040/5040**

 **MP: 5025/5025 [Chakra: 4530/4530] [LM/DM: 2513/2513]**

 **Strength: 164**

 **Vitality: 252**

 **Dexterity: 223**

 **Intelligence: 201(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 100 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 100 (+1)(+3)(+114)**

 **Charisma: 100 (-1)(+1)(+1.7)(+2)(+3)**

 **Stat Points: 0**

 **Perk Points: 6**

 **Prestige Points: 4,815**

"Now, let's see if I gain any boosts from this."

 _Ping!_

 **Congratulations! You are no longer considered a social reject!**

 **You attained 100 Points in Charisma!**

 **You have attained the perk,** **Razor Tongue** **! This perk enables you to cut down anyone and anything with harsh biting words, lie through your teeth while looking like a soft-spoken charmer, and even enables you to cast powerful buffs or debuffs on your allies and enemies with either** **Taunts** **or** **Praises!** **You can also** **Intimidate** **people more successfully with the right words and moreover, this Perk makes people more susceptible to your charismatic aura. This however uses up from your available** **Prestige** **, so the more** **Prestige** **you have to spend, the more powerful this perk becomes!**

 **Note: This perk grants boosts and stacks with other titles, perks and/or skills.**

"Well _that's_ useful. Maybe I'll _spite_ Kratos to death. What else?"

 **Congratulations! Fate no longer spits in your general direction!**

"Okay, these taunts are getting ridiculous."

 **You attained 100 Points in Luck!**

 **You now have an improved critical hit rate, and enemies will now drop more valuable loot with a 5% chance of it being Legendary! Also grants a 50-50 chance each day of something extra-ordinarily lucky happening to you!**

"No perk gotten from that one yet. Maybe at 150 I'll get it? Though a fifty-percent chance of something lucky happening each day seems cool."

Issei shook his head and sighed.

"Well, might as well see what new perks are available for me."

 **Perk List:**

 **Sealed Destiny**

 **Black Widower**

 **Ghost Mode**

 **Monster Allergy**

 **Silence, My Brother**

 **Click, Click, Boom**

 **Mind Over Matter**

"Well this sounds interesting..."

 **Sealed Destiny**

 **It's often said that a closed mouth is a closed destiny, but, not in your case! This perk grants upon you knowledge of Fuinjutsu, runes, and all forms of items which could be considered as 'seals'! Yes, this is a perk which turns you into an instant seal master! The drawback however, is a** _ **literal**_ **sealed destiny.**

 **Requirements: None.**

 **Costs: 3 Perk Points.**

"A literally sealed destiny? What in the world could that be?" Issei shook his head "Next."

 **Black Widower**

 **Feel like you could be an expert assassin? Or a secret agent? Or a superspy? Or hell, even a magician? This perk is the one for you, as with this perk, you can now gain the skillset and abilities of any female you engage in steamy activities with! You can even choose to completely drain said female of her strength and powers as well (they will, however, regain it in time). In exchange however, you are unable to properly control their abilities when they are near you.**

 **Requirements: Paragon of Jashin, Chaotic Alignment**

 **Costs: 3 Perk Points**

 **Ghost Mode**

 **Haunt your friends or become the ultimate voyeur with this perk which literally transforms you into an intangible and/or invisible phantom! Grope girls in the shower, phase through objects, possess people and take their bodies on joyrides, or simply enjoy the benefits of astral projection, all at the tip of your fingers!**

 **Requirements: Achievement: Immortal Executioner, Chaotic Alignment**

 **Costs: 6 Perk Points**

 **Monster Allergy**

 **When you are near a hidden supernatural person, object or creature, you will react as though you have gained a cold, giving you hints to the location of such objects and characters. This however, works in reverse, and your mere presence will cause nausea, fatigue, dizziness, fever, excessive sweating and weakness to opponents who are equal or weaker than your current level.**

 **Requirements: 100 Luck,**

 **Costs: 2 Perk Points**

 **Silence, My Brother**

 **Upgrade Perk**

 **What is the music of life? It is, as you'd expect, Silence. This is your deadliest weapon, and its abilities are no longer restricted to just you, but to your companions as well. This is an upgrade to embrace of shadows. With this perk, you gain master control over darkness and shadows rivaled by only gods themselves, all attacks delivered from stealth deal 500% extra damage and your allies and companions gain a 50% boost in attack speed when fighting in darkness or shadows and can now utilize the shadow realm to travel.**

 **Requirements: Embrace of Shadows**

 **Costs: 6 Perk Points**

 **Click, Click, Boom**

 **Burn! Burn! BURRRNNNN! With this perk, bring out your inner pyromania as you can now set objects, buildings and even people alight in a magnificent explosion simply by snapping your fingers in their general direction! Even more, your very punches and kicks are explosive! Your bullets are explosive! Your sword strikes are explosive! Simply tapping an enemy can make him go BOOM! This perk can also have a delayed effect for maximum damage, and the last thing your opponents will hear will be Click, Click, BOOM!**

 **Requirements: Achievement: Bomberman, Chaotic Alignment**

 **Costs: 5 Perk Points.**

 **Mind Over Matter**

 **Tired of having to get up to grab the remote? Or always having to move from your comfortable position on the bed to get the cereal and milk from the kitchen? Or better yet still, want to engage your girlfriend's choking fetish without physically harming her? Or even make her forget the time she caught you watching hentai without her? Well look no further, as your enhanced intelligence now grants you the literal power to solve problems with your mind! Telekinesis, psychokinesis, telepathy, mind reading, mind wiping – the whole enchilada is now yours to command!**

 **Requirements: 200 Intelligence,**

 **Costs: 3 Perk Points**

"Holy –" Issei said, scrolling through the options. "This is… damn, useful. They're all useful… but I can't take them all. This is torture."

"I know the best way to help you decide master!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Which of these would help you best to kill Kratos?"

Issei thought over the question, before realizing it was extremely valid. Thinking over the perks once more, he realized that Sealed Destiny would be beyond useful, but the risky condition attached to it wasn't worth it. He'd become a seal master the old fashioned way.

Black Widower _was_ useful, as he'd gain a different collection of possible skills, and variety would be an undeniable asset.  Ghost Mode was good, but it wouldn't be much help against Kratos combat wise, and ditto for Monster Allergy.

Silence, My Brother however, would be _limitlessly_ useful, as all it would take to kill the godslayer would be to get a fatal hit from stealth.  Click, Click, Boom was also useful, as there was no problem in the world that could not be solved with the appropriate use of enough explosions.

Mind Over Matter however, was where the _real_ gem was at.

In the end, it didn't take Issei long to make his choices.

 **You have selected the Perk,** **Mind Over Matter** **, for 3 Perk Points. Is this selection final?**

 **[Yes/No]**

He didn't think twice.

 **Congratulations! You have gained the perk** **Mind Over Matter** **!**

He moved on to the next one.

 **You have selected the perk,** **Black Widower** **, for 3 Perk Points. Is this selection final?**

 **[Yes/No]**

After a mental push of a button, he accepted.

 **Congratulations! You have gained the perk,** **Black Widower** **!**

The Gamer closed the menu, and he was almost afraid of testing out his new power.

He stared at a piece of wood, before willing it to move.

He almost screamed out in joy when it responded and moved towards him.

 **You have unlocked a new skill!**

 **You have unlocked a new Skill Tree!**

 **Mind Over Matter – Lv. Max.**

 **Telekinesis [Active] Lv. 1:** **This is the literal ability to move objects with your mind. The weight of objects you can lift at the moment cannot exceed that of an average human being, and the most force you can exert with it can only bend spoons. Through constant repetitive use, this skill can be leveled up to increase the range of your telekinesis, as well as the speed and force with which you can exert with it. At max levels, you can stop bullets, as well as lift entire meteors with it.**

"You… you will not get away with… this…"

Issei turned to the voice, almost having completely forgotten about the presence of the goddess.

"You regained consciousness. I didn't think you'd do so for another six hours at least."

"You – will pay, I will make sure that – ack!"

The rainbow haired being squirmed, her face heating up "W-w-what sorcery is this?"

"Not sorcery, Telekinesis." Issei said grinning "I can now proudly cross, 'twisted a goddesses' nipples with my mind' off my bucket list."

"You perverted fiend!"

"Pervert? Me?" Issei said, in faux horror, before he smirked and bowed.

"A pervert I truly am, however, I'm not the one that had eleven consecutive –"

A rainbow colored beam of light shot towards him, and he dodged with Assasin's Grace, curving out of the path of the attack like an eastern dragon, before performing a quick Body Flicker and appearing in front of the goddess.

"You shouldn't have done that. Now, I have no choice."

"W-what?"

Issei placed his hand on her forehead.

"This isn't personal, but sometimes, you need to do the worst of things in order to achieve the best of results."

"W-w-what are you –"

"Black Widower."

The effects were… _stunning_ to say the least. Despite her weakness as a "god", Iris did in fact, have several useful abilities which the Gamer plundered with reckless abandon. Thankfully, the process seemed to have been sending waves of pleasure to the goddess, and within seconds, she was drooling with her eyes rolled all the way back inside of her head.

By the time he was done, she plopped unconscious to the ground, once more, without a trace of godly energy to be found within her.

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 _Ping!_

 **New Data found!**

 **Importing Data Files…**

 **Initializing…**

 **Initialization Complete.**

A surge of power rushed through Issei's veins, as his eyes flashed the colors of the rainbow.

 **Additional Data Files Added.**

"Kratos had better be ready…

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

 **Your Level has gone up by 1!**

On and on the notifications went, and Issei's grin could not help but grow.

"…cause there's a new god slayer in town."

* * *

 **~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~**

He had never considered himself one to be ruled by emotions.

"N-no! P-please!"

Nor had he ever considered himself one to hold such values such as honor or camaraderie.

"S-stop!"

If anything, his goals were solely based on one thing and one thing only, and that was gaining power and becoming the strongest there was.

"Artemis s-save u-us!"

He had followed Azazel, believing the man to be the way forward.

"M-m-my legs! I- can't feel my l-legs!"

Then he had joined the Khaos Brigade, assuming that he would find true power in the form of Ophis.

"H-he's too strong!"

He had been wrong both times. Azazel was a senile old coot, and Ophis had been usurped out of her own organization by a _human_ who called himself the King of Heroes.

"H-has s-she forsaken us?"

Of course, _he_ had lost to said human. The sheer notion of it enraged him, and the idea that every non-human member of the organization had fled for their lives was baffling.

"Ar-tem-is… f-forgive u-us…"

Now however, he answered to a different force now. A force which compelled him to carry out the deeds he was doing now. A force which promised him power, and could actually back up said promise.

"W-why are y-you d-doing this?"

The dark midnight sky was illuminated with the flash of blue wings and white draconian armor, as Vali Lucifer stared down the last of Artemis' warriors, leaving only a single black haired girl with a spear in her knee, amidst a field of bloody corpses.

"Athena killed my Grandfather."

The young woman grit her teeth in anger. "We are Lady Artemis' warriors! What Athena does is no business of ours!"

Then all at once, Vali Lucifer chuckled.

"I know."

Nothing else needed to be said before there was a sickening snap of the neck, and the final warrior of Artemis lay dead.

He stared dispassionately at all the bodies he had killed, a small shred of guilt and disgust welling up in him before he squashed it down with vehemence. They were simply collateral on his way to the top. To become the strongest being in existence, he would step over more and more bodies, and he could not afford to get squeamish about their deaths now.

He turned around, and faced his new force, who appeared with seven figures flanking him, forming a protective circle like they were his most vigilant disciples.

"Well?" Vali asked, ignoring how all the figures seemed to move to attack him at his apparent disrespect.

Instead, the central cloaked force rose a pale arm, and they stilled.

Then two yellow reptilian eyes opened, and a smile unlike any other graced the White Dragon Emperor.

"Kukukuku… you did good Vali-kun. Your initiation was a success."

Vali scoffed. "Initiation? No. You offered me power to kill Athena herself –"

The yellow eyes didn't waver. "Which will come in time."

" _If_ it comes at all. Rumor has it that your seven strongest warriors ran away from her and her pet dog –"

"Kukuku… that is because it is entirely unwise to display your full strength to the enemy on your first encounter."

Vali rose an eyebrow. "Unwise?"

"Kukuku… Vali-kun, the more apt term would be… _stupid_ ," The snake-eyed figure said, "Stupid is truly what the Greek Gods are. I do not know if they are gods of stupidity or merely stupid gods, but it makes no difference."

The figure rose a pale hand and began counting.

"The Wings of Icarus, the Nemean Gauntlets, the Boots of Hermes, and he even displayed his trump card – the Blade of Olympus. Showcasing power where it is not needed." The yellow-eyed being scoffed "Whereas… my seven didn't show a tenth of what they were capable of."

"You expect me to believe they were _holding back_? Against a _godslayer?_ "

"When living in a world filled with omnipresent beings, your greatest weapon, is the element of _surprise_."

Vali scoffed. "How gullible do you think I am?"

"Perhaps then… a demonstration is in order?" the figure snapped his finger "Lust… if you would please show young Vali-kun the error of his ways?"

Before the White Dragon Emperor could comment, he felt himself feeling very, _very_ cold, and his vision was bombarded with a flash of flowing blue hair.

"Gladly."

He found himself lost in a world of ice.

~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

 **Author's Note: Now, things are getting interesting. Telekinesis and Power Absorption? Training Rias peerage? Vali-freaking-Lucifer?! And the Vampire Princess _finally_ makes an appearance?! We're going places people, places I've planned for this since the beginning of this fic. **

**And... There are more cameos in this chapter than I can care to count, if you got them all, then you're one awesome reader.**

 **There is a question that I will address however, and it is the issue of Gamer fics and Grinding. As much as I hate to admit it, I skip and skim grinding scenes in _all_ gamer fics I read because there really isn't any tension... any conflict, we all know that there's no real danger at hand, and it's just a mindless way to get stronger... so why waste valuable word count on it?**

 **When Issei does eventually grind, it will mostly be done offscreen for both of our precious time, _and_ if I do show him grinding, it means that there is some serious shit about to go down (such as the last time, when he was in a time warping sewer).**

 **Now to answer a few questions.**

 **1\. RadioPoisoning: I do hope this chapter answered your questions about Rias and the Arranged Marriage Debacle. If not, then I'll be glad to explain my reasoning to you in a PM.**

 **2\. Akuma-Heika: Yes, it is a large Harem, but I have faith that I can pull it off. There will be a maximum of twelve to fifteen girls in the harem however, and I'm just going to go out and say it now, if it wasn't obvious, that the pairing of this story is IsseixSonaxHarem.**

 **3\. Imperial-SamaB: Fear not, everything happens for a reason and everything is connected. _Literally_. Trust me, where I'm going with Freed and Murayama is a path you might not quite expect.**

 **Thank You For Reading, and Kindly, Please Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	24. Vanity

**This Chapter was so long I had to break it in half. It did however, have me wondering - would you guys like longer chapters (like 20k+ words per chapter) at the cost of update speed, or is the current chapter length and speed satisfactory? In any case, there are about five/six chapters left for this arc - so let's get the show on the road.**

 **And this goes without saying... but characters _will_ die this arc.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons - Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 23:**

 **Vanity**

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Yokai Realm**

 **Palace of Tails**

If anyone had walked into the throne room at that moment, they would have been treated to the odd sight of Uzumaki Naruto, sitting in nothing but a pair of boxers and socks, and flipping through a large television screen.

" _S-P-D, emergency! Let's go rangers!_ "

Naruto grabbed a bowl of ramen, before scoffing in the general direction of the TV screen.

"I preferred Dino Thunder… hell, even Jungle Fury was better than this crap."

He flipped the channel once more.

" _Gotta catch em all! I know it's my destiny~"_

He shook his head.

"Yeah, no. This show doesn't even make sense! How is Pikachu not a legendary at this point with how much he's faced?"

He flipped to the next channel.

" _We are, the Bakugan Battle Brawlers!_ "

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Another show that got ruined. When will creators learn that _too_ much of a good thing is bad?"

The different Yokai that guarded and cleaned the castle would often find him in such a place, sitting, making comments towards the television, but no one would dare, even for a brief second, think about actually interrupting him.

Then the television itself was a weird mechanism, no one could operate it save for Naruto or Kurama, and it wasn't even plugged in to anything, it didn't run on electricity, and the shows that came on it couldn't be normally found anywhere, as though the television was from another dimension itself.

All in all, it was a pretty normal day for the people at the palace, until everything changed when they heard the sage scream in joy.

It was to this scene that Yasaka walked in, finding Naruto bouncing up and down on his heels like a hyperactive teenager.

"Naruto-sama? What's wrong –"

"It's gone! It's finally gone!"

"What's gone?"

"The intervention policy! It's gone!"

Naruto's eyes were shining and Yasaka could do nothing but stare blankly as he grabbed her and landed a passionate, deep kiss on her lips, leaving her stunned.

"He did it! The brat finally crossed Level 100!"

There was a flash of motion, and Naruto was dressed in his usual coat, his eyes shining as a fanged smirk came upon his lips.

"Yasaka, where's Kurama? It's about time we started making waves again!"

"Er—Kurama hasn't returned yet,"

The blond man's excitement dulled at that news, and his eyes narrowed.

"He isn't back? That's not possible." Naruto his lips fall into a frown before shaking his head. A wordless shadow clone appeared beside him and vanished away in a flash, and Naruto tried to Hiraishin to Kurama's location, only to find it impossible to do so.

He even tried utilizing his mental link with the biju, but received no response.

A deep scowl came unto his face.

"Something is wrong… something is very, _very_ wrong."

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Human Realm**

 **Forest Hideout**

It was several minutes past midnight.

At this late hour, the sound of grunts, moans and groans could be heard alongside the occasional echo of skin smacking against skin. Contrary to what the original image might uphold however, there was nothing of a sexual nature going on, and if anything, the only activities happening there were one of a strictly professional sorts.

Two women stood across each other. One, of average height and possessing short blue hair and clad in a pair of gym shorts and a tank top for comfort, and the other, tall, possessing dark blue long hair clad in nothing but bandages covering her voluptuous chest and a dark red leather skirt covering a lower half.

The two women moved, as though on instinct, and engaged in a furious spar.

The shorter woman was quicker, faster, her movements were almost like that of an urban street fight than they were of any concrete martial arts, as she lunged with series of fast punches.

The taller woman evaded, dodging left and right, with each movement swaying her forward, like a boxer had crossed with a pendulum, she utilized her opponents strike to break into her guard and deliver a straight hook.

Her shorter opponent dodged the hook, leaning below it with her arm extended for an uppercut, only to receive a nasty knee to the chin that stunned her for a few seconds.

She rolled back, rubbing her jaw, but had little time to respond before an axe kick aimed towards her head. She blocked it by putting her arms up in an X-fashion, gritting at the strength behind the hit that would leave some nasty bruises afterward.

Thankfully, she used the opportunity to grab the limb, bringing her taller opponent closer to her as she capitalized on it, sweeping her opponent's one remaining leg off the floor, and sending the taller woman flat on her back.

The taller woman however, in a surprising display of strength and flexibility, coiled her body, bringing her opponent closer to her, and trapping her in a vicious triangle choke hold.

After about three seconds, her opponent waved a signal of surrender, and she released the submission maneuver.

The shorter opponent, now the loser, coughed multiple times, and rubbed her sore throat. "That was… a good move. Where did you learn something like that?"

"I could ask of you the same thing. I did not expect you to be such a proficient fighter, though you are lacking in any set style."

The younger woman shrugged. "It's not really like I had anyone to train me, Sona wasn't much help, as you can't teach what you don't know."

The taller woman rose an eyebrow slightly, "I… see."

"Tsubasa-san, Kalawarner-san… I can't – take anymore."

The two fighters turned to the younger girl in their midst, running towards them with a rope tied towards her, and attached to a large truck tire, no longer in her nun outfit but in one of Tsubasa's old sports clothes which was a plain, dark blue tracksuit.

She collapsed on the ground, panting, and out of breath.

"K-Kalawarner-san, W-w-why a-am I d-doing t-this?"

Kalawarner cracked her knuckles. "I was assigned to protect you from any and all things that may wish to do you harm – including yourself."

"E-eh?"

"As you are now, you are a liability."

Asia winced, and Tsubasa stared at the tall fallen angel.

"Geez, if you water it down any more I don't think she'll get the message."

Kalawarner ignored the sarcastic response and simply shook her head.

"Subtlety is not my goal, because there will come a time in her life where no one will protect her, and when it comes, what will she do then? Clasp her hands in prayer as she is defiled from behind?"

"That's going a bit far –"

"Whether you believe it to be excessive is not my concern. My only concern now, is ensuring that a young excommunicated nun does not die."

Kalawarner moved over to Asia two balls of light forming in her hands.

"Now, let us begin your dodging training."

Asia gulped.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **No Man's Land**

Heracles growled as he stormed his way back to the location of the Esau's Bar.

The sheer audacity of that old man lying, to _him!_

The descendant of the legendary Greek Warrior gnashed his teeth, upon confirming from several eyewitnesses, he knew for a matter of fact that he was going to find his target and capture her at his location, and he knew moreover, that he was going to tear asunder the old man's bar, and shove a bottle down the man's throat as far as he could, until it came out the other end.

"Out of my way you scum!"

The large man pushed aside several figures as he could feel his bloodlust growing, he would complete this task, then as promised, Athena would grant him godhood – yes, then, he would be strong enough to stand toe to toe with his role model, Kratos.

Still, Heracles found the entire thing odd. Kratos had always been a bloodthirsty warrior that much was certain, and it was more in him to simply plunder and destroy Olympus and all the gods in it, than for him to work for them – somehow, someway, Athena had managed to turn the loose cannon into a concentrated weapon that obeyed only her, and no one else.

Of course, it could not be considered mere coincidence that ever since Kratos came under her employ, none of the other Greek Gods save for Hades, Zeus and Poseidon, had dared question anything she did.

Then, there was the fact that the Zeus and Poseidon were being kept in the dark, and judging by the moves Athena was making, it would seem to Heracles that the Goddess of Wisdom was tired of letting fools run the Greek Faction – and she wanted to take it by force.

Heracles kicked aside a beggar that stood in his way, and crushed the arm of a would-be pickpocket without even looking, his destination in sight, but his mind focused only on his own goals – it mattered not to him if it was Zeus or Athena in charge, so long as he became a god, he could ignore all the scheming and background plotting that followed around him.

However, there was _one thing_ that he couldn't ignore.

The fact that Athena seemed to have some sort of weird, secret relationship with the Gold King – and though Heracles was no Sherlock Holmes, he could swear that there was something more between those two.

Of course, it was ridiculous to even believe such; Athena was a Virgin Goddess, and Midas had a heart of gold – _literally_. The man's heart was both made from _literal_ gold, and it was as hard and unforgiving as it – there was no room for any form of amorous inclinations.

Midas was… an _oddity_. Supposedly, before becoming Midas, he had been a warrior leader in a past life, supposedly having led a nomadic group of warriors that lived in a desert, all of which had been erased from his myths and instead focused on his terrible tale of his hands which turned anything to gold.

Heracles snorted. His myths had made it sound like that was a _bad_ thing. All it took was purchasing a favor from the gods; getting a pair of special gloves forged by Hephaestus and his curse had transformed into his greatest strength and asset.

He was… _frightening_ to face in combat, as a single touch was all he needed to turn your blood, bone, guts and organs to gold, and leave you there as a conscious gold statue for all eternity, until someone melted you down into jewelry and you became worn as enchanted ornaments by would-be adventurers.

Heracles shook his head. None of that mattered to him as the familiar sign of the Esau Bar came into his sight, and he cracked his knuckles, and charged intending to burst down the door and tear down all who stood in his path –

Only to blink and find himself standing at the outskirts of the No Man's Land, a tumbleweed melancholically rolling past him.

"It is to my sincerest apology that you cannot meet the Princess at this time."

Heracles turned, finding a young, blond, extremely effeminate looking man with pointed ears, dressed in a casual dark suit with a matching tie.

Heracles shook his head disdainfully, letting out a bark of laughter.

"I should have known! Known that the Vampire King would never actually let his daughter travel without a body guard – but to think he'd send you, Dhampire, one of his three elites."

The young man smiled a vibrant young look that would have captivated the hearts of both men and women alike.

Heracles found it disgusting.

Disgusting to think this weak, womanly-looking man was his opponent.

Disgusting to realize that this creature was the Third Strongest Vampire in Existence.

Disgusting to know, that in meeting the creature, falling under its gaze, his fate was sealed.

Disgusting to realize that his jugular had been slit, and in the span of a heartbeat, the boy's hand was in his chest, and his heart was crushed.

Disgusting, to watch as the effeminate boy licked his blood and savored the flavor in an orgasmic manner.

Disgusting to realize that his vision was fading, even as he saw the ever-smiling face of the Right Hand of the Vampire King.

Disgusting to realize the sheer difference in power between himself and the boy, all because of the Evil Eye that Stops Time, the Sacred Gear – Forbidden Balor View.

Yes, Heracles died, feeling the very same emotion that others around him had felt while he lived.

As his now cooling corpse lay on the ground, his assailant stared down on his body, with a long, heavy sigh.

"Alucard-sama isn't going to like this."

~~~~~~~~~~~DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

 **Island Off the Pacific Coast**

Issei flexed his muscles, feeling them having gained some extra power in them, and he grinned as he realized that he also felt much lighter and nimbler.

 **Name: Hyoudou Issei**

 **Level: 150 [91.05%]**

 **Current Titles: The Gamer**

 **Race: Human**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **HP: 15000/15000**

 **MP: 11250/11250 [Chakra: 12000/12000] [LM/DM: 5625/5625]**

 **Strength: 494**

 **Vitality: 750**

 **Dexterity: 798**

 **Intelligence: 450(+3)(+2)(+2)**

 **Wisdom: 204 (+1)(+1)(+2)(+2)(+2)**

 **Luck: 190 (+1)(+3)(+114)**

 **Charisma: 107 (-1)(+1)(+1.7)(+2)(+3)**

 **Stat Points: 0**

 **Perk Points: 0**

Absorbing Iris' powers and abilities hadn't brought him quite up to _her_ level per se, but it had boosted him up several levels and he had also attained some new upgrades.

 **Attained 500 Points in Vitality!**

 **Steel Skin Upgraded into Greater Steel Skin!**

 **Attained 750 Points in Vitality!**

 **Greater Steel Skin Upgraded into Master Steel Skin!**

 **Attained 500 Points in Dexterity!**

 **Assassin's Grace Upgraded into Greater Assassin's Grace!**

 **Attained 750 Points in Dexterity!**

 **Greater Assassin's Grace Upgraded into Master Assassin's Grace!**

Issei however, realized that the Black Widower perk came with downsides and limitations that were not included in the original description. For starters, he was not rewarded with any perk points despite having gone up a ridiculous amount of levels. Similarly, unlike when he trained, fought and grinded himself, all the stat gains he had gotten from Iris had been allocated automatically and random.

Of course he realized that it was probably the system trying to prevent him from using his newfound power absorption abilities recklessly. For it would be damned stupid if he could simply absorb the powers of Ophis and then have every single stat point he'd gain from levelling up be sent directly into something as useless as the Luck stat.

" **Well, well! I dare say you've changed Issei!"**

Issei turned around, ready to strike the sudden voice, only to blink as he came face to face with a familiar white bony figure.

"Jashin."

" **My, my, my – marvelous. Superb. Wondrous. Isn't this just great Issei? Don't you think your growth has been worthy of an epic – an epic indeed.** "

Issei rolled his eyes. "What are you going on about now?"

" **How they grow up so fast. It seemed like only yesterday – yesterday that you could barely hold your own against a cadre class fallen angel – and now, now you are hunting down gods all on your lonesome!** "

Issei shrugged. "Weaker ones anyway."

" **True – very true. I'm afraid taking down Iris isn't much of an accomplishment – when far stronger beings exist.** "

"You mean the anomalies?"

" **Bah! Anomalies – you toss around that word like it's supposed to be of some great import to me.** "

Issei rose an eyebrow. "Well they kind of are – beings from other worlds whose presence throws this one off course?"

" **Issei, now here's something the Uzumaki probably – most likely – failed to explain to you.** " Jashin said," **In this world, there are** _ **numerous**_ **people who should not exist, but do – not just your anomalies**."

Issei's eyes bulged out.

"What?"

" **Most of them are no issue, simply beings who were drifted from their world of origin to yours, living peacefully, and having little knowledge of the fact – all thanks to the Exodus Switch.** "

"Wait, so there are people here that _aren't_ anomalies, but don't originate from this world?"

" **But of course! I do believe the term ascribed to these individuals, should be** _ **'Drifters'**_ **and they are usually passive individuals whose presence have no real stake in the world.** "

 _Ping!_

 **Special Codex Entry Unlocked!**

 **Codex Entry: Drifters.**

Issei massaged his forehead, trying to let his mind come to terms with that what he was hearing. He did however, still find it slightly odd.

"Why do I feel that there's a 'but' coming?"

" **Some of these beings drifted here however, are potentially powerful or influential enough that either through their actions or inactions, their presence alters the timeline irreparably – most often, leading to massive death, chaos and destruction, the end of the world and all that comes it.** "

"So let me get this straight, Drifters who have the potential to cause great good or great destruction… are the anomalies?"

" **That's right.** "

"There _are_ only eleven of them right? Not that new anomalies will pop up from the current drifters –"

" **Yes, thankfully for both of our sanities, I have only been able to identify eleven beings possessing that much power or potential to be classified as anomalies, with you having taking out one of them.** "

Issei let out a breath of air he didn't even know he was holding. The last thing he needed to find out was that there were more anomalies to get rid of.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

" **Well… Drifters and Anomalies are sort of like me and you in a sense. Some Drifters arrive as a result of the Anomaly, meaning, if you take out an anomaly, certain drifters will fade back into their own world and timeline without ever remembering they were here in the first place."**

The god and the boy turned their attention to the unconscious goddess who was drooling comfortably in seeming pleasure.

"No… Princess Rainicorn… come back… we haven't finished our tea party yet…"

Jashin let himself stifle a chortle of laughter, before he snapped his fingers, and the Rainbow Goddess was gone.

" **Thank you so much for this wonderful gift Issei – there could not be a finer tribute to your patron god.** "

Issei's eyes narrowed. "Gift?"

" **Why, what else? The goddess of course – leaving her here on a stranded isle without an inch of godly power in her – such a cruel fate, under my wing however, she can be more…** _ **useful**_ **.** "

Issei moved into an offensive position. "Jashin… what did you to Iris? Where is she?"

" **Oh, she's here, and she's there. You don't need to worry yourself with the little things –"**

"What are you planning on doing with her?"

" **Some questions – I do think – deserve no answers.** " Jashin said, " **Besides, it would be erroneous thinking on your part – leaving her on her own. What if she regains her powers and then rats you out to her superiors? You'd be up to your neck in Olympians before dawn.** "

"So it's better to keep her as my captive? My _slave_?"

" **Trust me Issei – you haven't experienced what living is until you've enslaved a few goddesses and have them bend to your every whim.** "

Issei scoffed. "Of course, what more could I expect from the god of Carnality?"

" **My, my, my, Issei, is that condemnation I hear? Do you really wish to take the moral high ground and ask me to release her?** "

Issei thought it over, shaking his head. Arguably, Iris didn't deserve to be taken as a slave by Jashin, and she hadn't necessarily done anything wrong to deserve such treatment.

However, Jashin was a god, and gods were… well, _gods_. They didn't have any set boundaries of morals, and could kill and destroy and pillage on whims, because morality was a _human_ concept, and they were far above such measly issues. As far as Jashin was concerned, Issei was his champion, his _paragon_ , and Issei's victories were his victories, ergo, Iris was his spoils of war.

And as sad as it might have sounded, Issei didn't care enough about the goddess to get into a fight with Jashin for her, not when he had other things on his plate.

The Gamer sighed. "Just great. One minute, I'm trying to end demi-human trafficking because I think it's immoral, and I tell Rias' mother that I'd never force myself on Rias, then the next, I practically violated and sold a goddess off into slavery."

" **Now, now, I guess this is supposed to be where I'd say that what separates you from them is your intentions. Sacrificing the few for the benefit of the many. But –"** Jashin let out a bark of laughter " **I'm going to make Iris prance around in a skimpy maid outfit and have mindless sex with her whenever I'm bored – either you get over it, or you try to convince me otherwise.** "

"Can't you just wipe her memory or something and let her go? It's not fair to –"

A shockwave of air pressure emanated from the god and forced Issei to take a step back.

" **Fairness? You speak of fairness? Spare me that drivel! We live in an unfair world Issei – do you think it's fair that you can become the strongest being in existence utilizing so many shortcuts to power? Do you think it's fair for your enemies and opponents?"** Jashin let out a dry snort. " **There are ends of extremes Issei, and this has always been how it was. Without the poor, wealth would have no meaning and without the weak, what use would there be to strength?** "

Issei said nothing, instead staring at the form of the God who simply shook his head at him.

" **You are my paragon Issei, I do not wish to hear such balderdash from you again. Fairness and equality are illusionary concepts created by people who could not accept the fact that there would always be someone greater than they are, and no matter how much they tried to catch up – they would never attain a fraction of that greatness.** "

Issei stared at the retreating form of the god, his fist clenching and his his mind thinking, concerning what he had said, and likewise, concerning the conditions surrounding a particular blonde fallen angel.

" **Now… I do believe I am done here for now. I can't stand the sight of such hypocritical idealism.** "

There was something in the Gamer that snapped.

The god intended to move, only for him to be stilled at the sight of an extended blade of pure white light.

" **What – what is the meaning of this?** "

"Just in case you're forgetting something _kami-sama_ ," Issei said, sarcasm dripping from his tone "Our relationship _isn't_ symbiotic. It's _parasitic_. Unlike you, I _don't_ need a human paragon to keep my existence anchored to this world."

Issei stared at the god.

"I don't _need_ your powers or blessings in order to become stronger. So if you think that you can order me around like some puppet, I will _end_ you."

" **You - you think you can take me Issei?** "

"No, but I know someone who can. Tell me, what do you think _Naruto_ would do if he knew you were skulking around the world again?"

Jashin seemed to still at the concept, before his lips twisted into a wicked snarl " **You – you ungrateful brat – you would dare –** "

"So there _is_ a reason you don't want Naruto to know you're back." Issei said with a nonchalant shrug "Shame, I guess I'll have to find out what it is."

Jashin was instantly in motion.

" **Issei, Issei – don't be too hasty here. What do you want? Tell me? More skills? New jutsu – come on boy, I can offer you much more – Uzumaki doesn't need to know anything.** "

"What I want is simple" Issei said, craning his neck "If there is a single hair out of place on Iris, and if I find out that you forced her to do anything she didn't want to – we will have a problem."

Jashin scowled. " **This hypocritical nonsense again? You, Issei, spent the past few hours pleasuring her against her will for –** "

"For information purposes _._ " The Gamer said, eyes flashing red "Not because I _felt_ like it, and certainly not because _I could_."

" **Tch.** " Jashin shook his head wearily " **You do not understand Issei, it seems it is much too early. Perhaps – it seems to be – until the day comes where you crush your opponents like insects and take what you want, when you want, and there are none strong enough to oppose you – then, you will understand.** "

Issei rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You sound just like Kokabiel."

" **Yes, I do indeed – But, but for all the Fallen Angel's faults, can you truly stand there and tell me – that he was wrong?** "

Issei stared out into the sight of the ocean waves, catching DLC sleeping in the corner of his vision, and he could not let his lips open.

He watched as Jashin faded away into wisps of smoke, his point made, and leaving Issei to deal with the cold hoarse voice of Darkness slithering back into his ear. The voice had changed, sounding more feminine in pitch, like the combination of a dry rasp and an angry moan.

 _[Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In time Issei, even you will be warped by the very power you attain, until there is not a shred of docility and decency left within you_.]

'I won't let that happen.'

The retorting laughter sent shivers down his spine.

 _[You already have.]_

* * *

~~~~Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition~~~~

 **Overworld – God Realms**

 **Olympus**

"Artemis – you must refrain from making a hasty decision –"

"Dead. My warriors. My sisters. _All_ of them. Dead." The goddess snarled "You dare ask me to stand down Athena?"

"Any rash move you make could tear asunder our plans Artemis!"

"Tell me Athena, the _entire_ reason this conflict began, was because that bat king Alucard had his minions sniffing around and my warriors intercepted them. The resulting battle cut down my warriors by _half_ , and now – the remaining half have been slain, and you ask me to do _nothing?_ "

"We do not know who is responsible for the attacks –"

"It was a Dragon Emperor." Artemis said, gritting her teeth "That much I know from the prayers I gleamed from my warriors, before they were mercilessly cut down."

The Greek Goddess of War let herself ponder on the situation silently. She had tasked Heracles with finding and retrieving Alucard's daughter, which was all they would need to capture the Vampire King. Either he surrendered willingly, in hopes that his daughter be spared, or he charges with a full on assault, either which works perfectly in favor or the goddess.

She however, did not expect such a move as eliminating Artemis' warriors and consequently, the vanishing of Iris, the Rainbow Goddess. Iris' power could no longer be felt anywhere on the realms of existence, and seeing as how she was a key messenger, it could be assumed that she had been captured for Intel.

Likewise, she had gotten information that Heracles was dead, having being intercepted by one of Alucard's three generals, the Dhampire of Death, Gasper Vladi.

It seemed that she would need to change her tactics.

"I did not expect the devils to utilize such a strategy – it seems that they care little for their Satan, so we need to prove to them that we are not to be trifled with."

Yes, Athena thought. A show of force would be what they needed, to send them reeling from the fact that they were facing _gods_ , and that the power they possessed was one that could shake the foundation of the earth.

"Do you know which one it was?" she said to Artemis, referring to the dragons.

The Goddess of the Moon shook her head.

"It matters not to me, be it the White or the Red, I will find them both, and I will kill them – and let it be known, that there will be no being referred to by that title ever again!"

Athena nodded reluctantly. It would be good to let Artemis vent out her desire for vengeance, and at the same time, killing the Two Heavenly Dragons would be a huge blow to the entire Judeo-Christian faction, that a goddess killed the two beings that had taken their entire faction to defeat.

"Very well, but, the devils are crafty, and it would be unwise of you to embark on this hunt unaccompanied lest you fall prey to a trap."

Artemis regarded her with surprise. "You are coming with me?"

Athena shook her head. "No, I am much too busy – however, I do believe you have met my champion."

There was a flash of movement, and a white cloaked figure appeared beside the goddess.

Artemis scowled. "A man?"

"No," Athena said with a smile "He is something, much, _much_ more."

No more words needed to be said, and Athena watched as the two departed, leaving her alone to her own thoughts within her domain in Olympus.

On turning around however, she witnessed a young man with dark red hair sitting on her table with a book in his hands. His most notable feature were the glowing white gloves which covered his hands, and the long, extravagant golden attire which was adorned from head to toe.

"You – what are you doing here –"

"Pathetic."

"What?"

The man snapped the book close. "Pathetic, how Artemis is so easily swayed by her emotions anytime her hunters are brought up. She believes them to be her greatest strength, but they are in fact, her greatest weakness."

Athena scowled. "Stay your tongue if you wish to remain as you are Gold King. Your job is to guard and contain the Satan, _not_ to provide me with your incessant commentary."

"A job which could be handled as well by a manticore, a chimera or even a mere cyclops – yet, you waste my talents on such a trifling task."

"You will do as you are told and it would be wise of you to not forget with whom your loyalties lay."

The man's eyes seemed to possess slight dark rings under them, yet his gaze was as firm as gold. He walked up to her, causing them to stare down as his hands moved forward, without care towards her, causing Athena to freeze solid.

Her breath remained still as he extended towards her hair and brushed it aside from her face.

"My loyalties lay to no one but myself – I am a king."

His hand left her face and the Goddess let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"What is a king to a god?"

The red-haired man stared at her, his eyes still showing the same level of apathy.

"What is a god to a nonbeliever?"

Athena stiffened, before she growled "We have a deal. Do not _dare_ back out, not after all that we have done."

The man ignored her warning, turning around, summoning forth a portal that arrived in a swirl of golden sand.

"Midas… when - _how_ did we become _this_?"

The man paused, for a brief second, turning to face her.

"You lost your appeal to me once you traded a portion of your godly intellect and wisdom for mere _power_." The man said, "You are now as strong as Zeus, but half as smart and twice as arrogant."

"I have plans to gain it back – Find Eden, the fruit of wisdom – we can still wo-"

The man shook his head. "Arrogance upon arrogance. The Athena I knew was wiser than this – she would not possess the impetus to utter such nonsense."

He turned back to the portal, leaving the goddess gritting her teeth helplessly.

"The arrogance of you gods will be your downfall, and I will watch, as your ambition causes the spark of war over insignificant occurrences and leads to the destruction of everyone and everything."

The man's dark red hair billowed with a gust of wind.

"By the time you have all descended from your inflated heights of divinity, and the world is but ashes upon ashes, you will look up and find me on my golden throne, and you will realize –"

The man stepped into the portal.

"All is vanity."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Territory**

"I'm what?!"

Issei sat, one hand propped idly against a table, the other lazily swirling a glass of wine in his hand, as he looked on at the ongoing mother-daughter conflict with all the nonchalance of uninvolved spectator. Part of him really considered becoming an alcoholic, seeing as how it wasn't like he could get drunk for starters, and it couldn't harm his body secondly. He had begun to enjoy the sample taste of fine wine, and at the very least, despite her poor parenting skills, Venelana had good taste.

They were currently in the study, adorned with different books, tables, a fireplace _and_ a chandelier, all in dominant, different shades of red, and Issei found it all quaint together.

"Rias, listen to me –"

"Mother, listen to yourself! You want me to marry _him?_ "

She pointed at his general direction, and Issei simply smiled, his lips forming into one of curious intrigue.

"It's him or Riser."

"Oh, so now it's a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils?"

"Only if you decide to see things from that perspective!"

Rias turned to glare at him and Issei simply gave her a charming smile.

"You should listen to your mother Rias."

"No, no. I am _done_ listening to anything she, or you have to say Hyoudou. First, you trick me into signing off that contract, then, you keep me in the dark about a fight where I _risked_ my life, then, you separate me from my best friend – and now this, I'm to marry, _you?_ "

Issei stared, his expression calm but his mind elsewhere. The fastest way to end this entire farce of a war and rescue Serafall was to meet either Zeus or Poseidon, and inform the two major gods of the Greek Faction about the events that they had been blissfully unaware of, and the conspiracy surrounding it all. Of course, that would mean infiltrating _Olympus_ of all places, which was no easy task. He really did _not_ have the patience to deal with this right now.

"You make it sound like I am some awful villain whose only goal is to make you miserable." Issei said.

"Aren't you?"

"If I had a list of priorities you wouldn't make it to the top _hundred_."

Rias stilled at the cutting remark, before she shook her head.

"You heard it yourself mother, he doesn't even care about me."

"No, I care about you" Issei said "I care about the fact that I am bound by my contract to you. I care about Sona, who would be devastated if anything bad where to happen to you. And for all your faults, I still care enough, to make sure you don't end up living a miserable life."

"And what, living with you _isn't_ going to be miserable?"

"Would you prefer living with Riser, and waking up every morning with his cock as your toothbrush?"

Rias balked, moving back as though physically stunned, and Venelana shook her head before coughing into her hand.

"I don't think such… _imagery_ was necessary Hyoudou-san."

The wine in Issei's hand stirred itself, the Gamer letting his Telekinesis move the liquid without actually moving the cup, and he let the slight silence sink into the room.

He took in a deep breath. Perhaps he was going at this through the wrong angles, and perhaps he needed to sit down and see things from an entirely different perspective.

"Venelana-san, could you leave Rias and I alone for a while?"

The question caught both the mother and daughter off guard, and Venelana paused for several seconds to contemplate it.

"Excuse me?"

Issei turned to her, his eyes giving her a gaze that meant that she was _not_ to question him. His Razor Tongue perk activated, and he spoke with a dose of prestige and intent.

"Could you kindly leave us alone for a while?"

"O-of course."

She left the room, giving one last glance to Issei and Rias, before the door closed behind her with a soft click.

Rias seemed jumpy when she heard the door _lock_ behind her, which was Issei's doing with  Telekinesis, and she maintained her distance from the teen.

"I don't know what you're up to Hyoudou, but if this is some sort of trick –"

"Rias, do you truly hate me?"

The red haired girl seemed nonplussed by the question, and she stared at him in annoyance.

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Why? Why? You're asking me why?" her hands balled into a fist "You humiliated me, lied to me, tricked me, tricked _Sona_ \- you lie to everyone on a daily basis, you can do things that no one can explain how - and you stand there, Hyoudou Issei, and ask me _why_ I hate you?!"

"Do you hate me more than you hate Riser?"

The question seemed to have thrown her for another loop, staring at him and gnashing her teeth.

"Yes." she said, crossing her arms "All Riser has done, is wish to marry me - you, you have done much, _much_ worse."

"Good."

"G-good? How is that goo- w-what in t-the world are y-you d-doing?"

Issei took off his shirt, leaving him standing bare chested in the room, and leaving Rias looking extremely annoyed and more paranoid than before.

Issei stretched his arms out and stared at her seriously.

"Hit me."

"W-what?"

"You heard me," Issei said "Hit me. I am the one who made a fool out of you with the contract, the one who caused the separation of your best friend, the one who you will have to marry. I have caused you pain, embarrassment, and anguish, so – hit me."

"I won't –"

"Are you scared? I won't hurt you back, I won't fight back, and I won't tell your mother. So hit me." He said "Don't you hate me? Aren't you angry at me?"

"I am but –"

"Then show that pain. Show that anger. Hit me."

Rias grit her teeth, staring at him for a few seconds, as though contemplating it.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Hit me!"

She did, she punched him in the stomach, and Issei barely registered any pain, much so that his HP didn't even drop by a single point.

"What was that? A love tap? Is that what all the anguish you've suffered is worth? A measly love tap?" Issei said, his voice increasing "I said HIT ME!"

 **-1HP!**

This time he did feel it, though not so much as he would have thought.

"That's the best you can do? That's all you felt when Sona turned her back on you?" Issei said with a sneer "I said _HIT ME!_ "

 **-1HP!**

"Was that a bee sting? Is that all the pain you've been feeling? Is that it? HIT ME!"

 **-2HP!**

"I've faced rodents that hit harder than you! Can you do no better? HIT ME!"

 **-3HP!**

"Is this the extent of your training? Is this all the despair you faced upon meeting Kokabiel? HIT ME!"

 **-4HP!**

"Harder!"

 **-5HP!**

"Harder!"

 **-6HP!**

"I said harder!"

 **-7HP!**

 **-8HP!**

"That's it! Show me what you're made of! Show me what Rias Gremory is capable of! Hit me!"

 **-9HP!**

 **-10HP!**

She punched him, over and over and over again, as the Gamer paid no heed to his reducing HP, until eventually, Rias stopped punching him, out of steam, out of energy, as she let herself half-heartedly pound her fists against his chest.

Her voice became a heavy, choking sound as she kept pounding her fists against him. "W-why… I thought I h-hated you… I t-thought I was angry at you… so why am I…"

Issei sighed, allowing his arms to awkwardly wrap themselves around the sobbing girl.

It was strange, feeling the warmth of Rias' body wrap around him – a unique warmth that wasn't like Koneko's feline balminess, or Sona's sweet temperateness, but rather, it was a warmth distinct to Rias, a strange mix of innocence and ambition, cunning and naiveté, that made it strangely unique.

"That's the thing, you were never truly angry Rias. Often, we get so wrapped up in our own thoughts, and in the thoughts of what we should feel that we often ascribe negative emotions to anger and rage... but most of the time we aren't angry…"

Issei said, shaking his head.

"We're sad."

Rias looked up to him, confused through teary eyes. "W-why are you doing this? I-I-I thought you h-hated me?"

Issei chuckled. Deciding to ruin the mood by letting his hand rest on her bum and giving it a squeeze, causing her to jerk in his arms and give him a slight glare.

"Rias, I am a pervert. By definition, I cannot hate you, even if I wanted to."

She seemed to realize who she was hugging and who exactly was comforting her for a brief second, but strangely enough, she couldn't bring it in her to be bothered.

"Now, wipe those tears before someone bursts in and gets the wrong idea… I _really_ don't want to be castrated today."

* * *

"You actually got her to _willingly_ agree to the arranged marriage?" the disbelief in Venelana's voice was so concrete Issei could almost taste it.

Rias had left the study to her quarters, leaving the only two inhabitants of the room to be the teenage boy and the older woman who had the body and appearance of someone in her teens.

"Yes."

"How did you pull off that miracle?"

The Gamer's eyes gave her a cold stare. "Unlike _you_ , I actually understand what Rias _thinks,_ what she _feels_ and what she _thinks_ she _feels._ Then, I can tell the difference."

"Really Hyoudou-san, still you pester me with verbal barbs? Have we not established that you and I are on the same side?"

"No, we are _not_ on the same side and I want to make it _very_ clear," Issei said, shaking his head "If you cannot even _understand_ your only daughter, how do you call yourself a mother?"

"I would advise you to still that tongue of yours Hyoudou-san; I _love_ my daughter –"

"Just not as much as you love your _family_ _name_."

There was a shuffle of movement, and a burst of speed.

A glass of wine slowly descended as Issei let go of it.

Venelana had moved from her position, in a gust of movement most eyes would not have been able to track, as elegantly and poised as a serpent leaping for the fatal strike. Her long red gown swaying in the wind as her fingers thrust out at his throat, her long nails extending into sharpened power of destruction, threatening to slice open and disintegrate his jugular.

Issei moved, spinning like a ferris-wheel, and in a flash, there was a long, white bony scythe accurately named the Unhallowed Scythe of the Damned appearing within his hands, the blades falling directly behind the woman's neck and slicing a portion of her brown hair.

The glass landed on the ground, shattering into pieces, its contents staining the floor.

"It would do you very, _very_ well to watch your next words Hyoudou-san. You have _no_ idea, the length of sacrifices I have gone through for this family."

"I am _fully_ aware of your sacrifices, Venelana. I only wonder if your _husband_ is as well."

There sound of embers crackling in the fireplace resonated across the room.

"Is it not odd, that despite having a harem of his own, Rias' father – your husband, has no other heirs than Rias and Sirzechs? That they have no step-siblings, despite the numerous women who warm his bed other than you?"

"What are you _implying_ Hyoudou-san?"

"Nothing. I imply nothing, and likewise, if you behave yourself and see to it that you _do not_ anger me… your husband will imply nothing from it as well."

There was a dawdling cracking sound of burning wood, and the composed repetitive tick of a giant elder clock.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"Rias and I are engaged, the wedding ceremony shall be at _our_ discretion and leisure, and that is all there is to it. I believe, when she's twenty-one would be a fitting age for marriage, don't you?"

Venelana snarled. "You can't –"

"I _can_ and I _will._ Or would you prefer your husband realize that his wife isn't the perfect woman he truly believes her to be?"

"You have _nothing_."

"In the last fourteen hours alone, I defeated and kidnapped a _goddess_. You do _not_ want to call my bluff Venelana-san."

The ticking silence extended on, until finally, both combatants lowered their weapons, and Issei's returned to his inventory.

Venelana's hands touched her hair, scowling in distaste as to how it was now cut much shorter than she liked. Yet, despite it all, she managed to let her lips form into a begrudging smile, and then, they opened and fell into a bark of laughter.

"A secret several hundred years in existence… threatened to be exposed by an upstart who doesn't even love my daughter." Venelana shook her head. "I had my doubts about you Hyoudou-san, but truly, I realize that despite being a human, you are more of a devil than Riser could ever hope to be."

Issei didn't look at her, instead utilizing his Telekinesis to pick up the shattered glass and restore it to its previous condition.

"I don't consider that a compliment."

"You should, but I suppose that is why we do not get along Hyoudou Issei. Our ideals differ far too greatly." She said, closing her eyes.

The Gamer turned around, a massive amalgamation of shadows appearing in front of him, causing Venelana to raise an eyebrow, before she found herself sighing in defeat.

"Now that I see it, I realize that Rias cannot be faulted for being so easily manipulated by you. She stood no chance."

Issei stopped, waiting for a second before chuckling and leaving one final remark before he left.

"I suppose two of you finally have something in common to talk about."

* * *

~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

"Checkmate bitch!"

"Goddamn it! How the hell do you keep beating me? You don't even look like you use any strategy!"

"That's the fucking secret – I _don't_."

Freed Selzen and Murayama sat across from each other, a black and white checkered board in between them, and Murayama let herself sigh as her back plopped down in defeat.

"You're a major cheat. How do you win without using a strategy?"

Freed shrugged, his hand reaching for his cup of coffee, which, as she had soon realized, seemed to be the man's obsession.

"Maybe you just fucking suck?"

Murayama rolled her eyes. "Hardee Har Har."

"You seem to be missing the bloody point. I win because I'm _good_ at _improvising_. I can fucking come up with a thousand and one ways to kill people on the fly, and even better ways to injure them – that's the fucking point of _my_ fighting style."

"So what, you've been winging it your whole life?"

"It's worked fucking great for me so far hasn't it?"

Murayama rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Not really – what if –"

She stopped herself, causing Freed to raise an eye in suspicion.

"What if what?"

"It's nothing –"

"Just because you have a pussy doesn't mean you have to be one as well. Go on, spit it out!"

She scowled. "What if you hadn't been found by that exorcist while _winging it_? What would have happened then?"

Freed's expression looked as though he'd chewed a bitter lemon.

"I never said that fucking story was about me –"

"You didn't have to."

The room engaged into an uncomfortable long silence.

"Fuck, all this awkward tension is killing me – alright, you go on, tell me your own fucked up story so we'll be even."

"What makes you think I have a 'fucked up' story?"

"Because you'd have to be really, _really_ fucked in the head to have saved a guy like me."

Her left eye twitched in annoyance, before she sighed wearily.

"There isn't much to say… my dad's an asshole and he blames it on everything that happened before I was born."

Freed rose an eyebrow.

"Well my mother… before I was born, she was pregnant with a boy. The way my uncle described it, he said that my father had never been happier, and that he treated my mother like she was a fragile thing that would break at any given moment."

Freed rolled his eyes and snorted, causing Murayama to smirk.

"So my father, he'd been very excited, so much that he'd gone ahead and bought so many boy's baby things all in anticipation for the day they'd meet their beloved _son_."

Freed shook his head and tutted. "Fucker shouldn't have counted those chickens before they hatched."

Murayama snickered as she playfully swiped at him. "That's mean! You asshole!"

Freed shrugged. "So… did the stork mix up the fucking order?"

Murayama shook her head. "I wish. No one knows what truly happened, and the official story was that my mother… fell down a flight of stairs… but I never truly believed that. She was too careful, too _graceful_ to have slipped."

Freed's eyes closed, before he breathed. "Shit happens."

"Yeah… it does." Murayama said, her lips forming into a sad smile "Long story short, it hardened my father's heart, what little there was of it anyway, and when I was born scarcely a year later… my very existence seemed to be abhorring to him."

Murayama's fists clenched.

"He pushed me to the limits, every day I worked and toiled, and whenever I failed, I would see it in his eyes, those cold eyes which would look down on me, and though he would never say it, I knew he was thinking it. Thinking, 'If you had been born male you would succeed. If you were my _son_ you would be greater.'"

Freed shook his head. "I don't know about that – fuck, in my opinion, you'd suck as a guy."

Murayama looked at him, her anger dwindling and turning into slight irritation at the sight of the man making gestures of having boobs in front of his chest, causing her to face-palm.

"I think you're right… I must be _really_ messed up in the head to be having this conversation. Most people wouldn't have bothered glancing your way twice if they'd seen you bleeding on the street – and I actually helped you."

Freed rose a cup of coffee in toast to her. "To which I'm glad – and seriously fucking grateful for."

The girl's eye twitched. "You have a very funny way of showing it."

"Hey, if a guy jerks off to you in a shower, it means he finds you good looking – would you have been happier if I'd seen you naked and not so much as get a boner?"

"I'd have been happier if you _hadn't_ seen me naked at all," she said, shuddering "That's really gross. Isn't that creepy? Peeping on girls young enough to be your daughter?"

Freed coughed out his coffee, trying to catch his breath. "Young enough to be my – what the actual fuck? How old do you fucking think I am?"

Murayama shrugged. "I don't know. Thirty? Thirty five?"

"Do I look like some bald ass motherfucker with an existential mid-life crisis?"

"It's kind of hard to tell with the _white_ hair."

"Which was the result of a fucking experiment gone wrong!" Freed shook his head "I'm twenty-four bitch! I still have some fucking good years left in me!"

Murayama blinked, staring at him for some time.

"Really?"

"The hell? What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"I just thought you were older."

"Why the hell does my age matter? What could –" Freed's eyebrows widened, before they narrowed. "Oi, don't even fucking think about it."

"Think about –"

"That little voice in your head giving you those thoughts, it's some fucking twisted version of Stockholm Syndrome."

She gaped, before snickering and then descending into hysterical laughter. "S-Stockholm Syndrome? Are you serious? You think _I_ have some sort of stupid attraction to _you_?"

"Don't you?"

She laughed even harder, rolling on the floor.

"No!" she said, wheezing "I mean, who in the world would ever love someone as damaged and deranged as you?"

Murayama laughed for a while, breathless, only to slowly come to the realization that Freed wasn't laughing along with her, he wasn't even smiling.

Then she realized just what she had said.

"Wait, I didn't mean it like –"

"The fuck are you apologizing for? You're not wrong," he gave a feral grin "I mean just fucking look at me!"

Murayama did, glancing at him and somehow finding herself giggling.

"You look like you came out of a freaking shonen anime."

Freed shrugged. "The white hair does that sometimes."

"Sure… it's the white hair alright."

The duo stared at each other, before bursting into respective laughter, each holding their guts as they forgot about the awkward silence that passed them by.

They came to a stop, wheezing, before Murayama shook her head.

"You know, if I _did_ ever have some 'twisted version of Stockholm Syndrome' – I guess you wouldn't be that bad of a person to be fixated on."

Freed held his chest in mock comfort with one hand as he wiped a faux tear with another.

"That's the fucking sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Murayama snorted.

"Asshole."

"Bitch-face."

Murayama's eye twitched.

"How did I get downgraded from bitch to bitch-face?"

"Fuck no, it's an upgrade actually; now only your _face_ is bitchy, not your attitude."

Murayama rolled her eyes.

"Something tells me that was the closest I'll ever get to a complement from you."

"Maybe."

There was a slight stretch of silence.

"So… wanna fuck?"

"Not even in your dreams Selzen. Not even in your dreams."

Whatever he wanted to respond next never managed to be vocalized, there was a crash from the kitchen window, and a small, round object rolled into the room, landing and giving off a set of mechanical beeps.

Freed's eyes widened. "GET THE FUCK DOWN!"

No sooner had the last syllable been uttered did the entire house go up in flames.

~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

* * *

 **Author's Note: And action gets pumped up the next chapter! Now I know I'm going to get stormed with questions for this chapter, so I'll break my usual rule and answer those questions now with questions of my own.**

 **1\. What would have happened if Gasper Vladi - one of the most underutilized members of Rias' peerage in fan fiction despite his potential OPness - had grown up in a world where he _wasn't_ ostracized for being a Dhampire? In a society ruled by _Alucard_ of all people?**

 **2\. Why is it, that it is mentioned and even seen as common in canon, for Clan leaders to have harems as their peerages, yet, we never hear of any step-children whatsoever? (If the reason _is_ explained in canon, please kindly do correct this erroneous writer.)**

 **3\. What _genuine_ reason, does Issei, a pervert, have to _truly_ 'hate' Rias?**

 **I will admit here and now that I was tempted to listen to reviewers and fall into the terrible trap of bashing Rias - all without even realizing it. Thankfully, I slammed the brakes before I could drive myself down that road.**

 **The main pairing of this story is _still_ IsseixSonaxHarem - so please don't ask me if Rias is going to be part of the Harem or not, it's a surprise, and I will not respond to the question.**

 **I'll leave you guys with that for now, and as always, thanks for reading, and kindly please review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird**_ **.**


	25. Game Breakers

**An extra early update as an apology, because my exams have been shifted forward, and I [probably] will not update again till the month of May. Special thanks this chapter goes to FinalKingdomHearts for an inspiring idea!**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 24:**

 **Game Breakers**

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Gremory Territory**

Issei ran his hands through his hair as he had left Venelana's presence, finding himself idly wandering down the halls of the Gremory mansion, his mind still reeling from the encounter.

 _[You already have.]_

 _[You already have.]_

 _[You already have.]_

The voice of darkness echoed at the back of his mind over and over again and Issei tried to push it down. There was a difference – he wasn't becoming power hungry – power wasn't changing him –

It wasn't like he _enjoyed_ , blackmailing people, even though his Blackmail skill had gone up thirty whole levels from his combined experiences with Venelana, Iris and even Jashin –

However, sometimes, he had no choice – those were the tools available to him and he would use it.

 _Ping!_

 **New Romance Route Unlocked!**

 **A Genuine Motherfucker –**

' _Absolutely NOT!'_

Issei closed the notification before he could even read it. There was _no_ way in the six hells he could have anything to do with Rias' mother – the very notion was beyond creepy.

 _{Though, she does have an amazing body, a strong fierce character, and it would be extremely tempting to enjoy some mother-daughter – }_

 _SMACK!_

Issei slapped his face hard enough to stop the voice of Carnality from speaking any further, as well as to stop himself from seeing Venelana in a sexual light.

So far as he knew, if the woman was aware of him having such thoughts, it would only cause her to have an ante up on him, and that was the last thing he needed.

Two passing maids stared at him awkwardly, and Issei merely threw a coy smile and a wink at them, turning them into blushing, giggling wrecks as they departed away from him.

A thought _did_ however spring to him, and he approached one of the maids.

"Excuse me miss, would you kindly be of assistance to me?"

The left maid, blond, at Level 20 and named Lisa, and the right one, dark haired, at level 25, named Chi Chi moved towards him, their faces attempting to be the picture of professionalism, but failing due to how red they were.

"Yes, Hyoudou-sama?" Lisa asked.

"How may we be of service?" Chi Chi followed.

It was overkill, in Issei's opinion, but the combined use of Inveigle _, _ Razor Tongue, and an application of Dating Mode's boosts were all he needed to turn their gazes into one of utmost devotion and loyalty.

As well as, of course, pure, unbridled, _lust_.

"I care greatly for the inhabitants of this house, especially for Rias and her mother Venelana, you do understand this yes?"

They nodded raptly.

"Good, it would _please_ me very much if you two would ensure that they are treated well, that Venelana doesn't worry herself too much, and that Rias isn't troubled by anyone." Issei said, "If they happen to be perturbed, disturbed, or if acting out of the ordinary, do kindly inform me, and I will do my best to make sure that they are happy, as we all should be."

"Of course Hyoudou-sama," Lisa responded, with a flushed face and heated breath.

"Anything for you Hyoudou-sama," Chi Chi said, not-so-subtly rubbing her thighs together.

Issei clasped his hands together. "Good, I knew I could rely on you two. Now, if you wish to contact me, merely whisper my name into your shadows, and I will appear. Carry on!"

He disabled the Dating Mode, watching as the two left in a trance like state, and knowing full well that their fingers would be busy tonight.

Issei sighed, to himself, feeling tired from all the politicking. It was necessary for him to know if Venelana would try something, and more importantly, to keep an eye on Rias – the girl wasn't exactly head over heels for him, but neither did she hate him, and uncertainty was a very dangerous emotion.

 _Ping!_

 **You have contracted new agents for Umbra Sumus!**

 **You have gained new spies!**

 **Umbra Sumus has leveled up!**

Issei closed the notification, staring down the balcony as he wondered if it were truly that easy to gain spies and agents – no wonder there was so much pointless power struggles in the Underworld.

 _Ping!_

 **You have eight hours left till the Devil Gathering!**

Issei mused at the notification, it was soon time for the gathering of the most influential devils in the underworld – which was one he honestly wich he did not have to attend. It would, however, be a gathering that would test his mettle, his patience, and his ability to lie through his teeth in order to gain allies.

'Yeah… _Allies_.' He shook his head at it all. It was ridiculously stupid, if not downright foolish to call anyone he would meet at the gathering an ally, as they were all simply looking out for their best interests.

However, he did need _real_ allies, and now more than ever, he needed real _strong_ allies. Whilst he _could_ , simply train them all, as he was currently doing with Sona and as his clone Cloud was currently doing with Rias' peerage – which would take far too long.

Issei's brain sparked a thought, a small smile coming on to his face. With his current buffs and perks, crafting Legendary Artefacts was a cakewalk, however, the crafts _had_ to be something perverted in order to raise the chances of it being Legendary.

"Ddraig? Hello?"

" _I thought you'd forgotten about me with how busy you've been lately_."

Issei shrugged. "Well you rarely say much – so I thought I'd let you be."

" _I take it that you need something now that you're asking for my help?_ "

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I do." Issei said, a grin slowly forming "I think it's about time the world met the Red Emperor's Army."

" _Why do I not like the sound of that?_ "

"Something tells me you'll like the _look_ of it even less."

Issei cracked his knuckles, as he brought up the crafting menu and mused silently to himself.

"This is going to be good."

 _Ping!_

Before he could get started however, he was interrupted by a new notification.

'What now?'

 **You have an incoming call from an Umbra Sumus Agent. Would you like to accept?**

'You're joking.'

They couldn't have found out something that Venelana was up to so quickly, could they?

Out of what could only be described as morbid curiosity, Issei mentally accepted the call.

" _Heyaaaa, Ise-kun?"_

The gamer blinked at the telepathic voice he could hear in his head, instantaneously connecting it with a familiar small fallen angel.

"Ero-tenshi?"

" _I think Isha gat sometang for ya… real good shuff, ya gonna wub it!"_

The Gamer blinked. "Ero-tenshi… are you… drunk?"

" _Pfttsh! Nooo… ownly rosers get drunk… am not drunk…"_

Issei massaged his eyebrows in annoyance. "Alright, stay still wherever you are, I'll meet you there in a few seconds."

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Esau's Bar**

"So let me get this straight…" Issei said, slowly massaging both sides of his forehead with his fingers "You met Alucard's daughter."

"Uh huh."

"And she's being hunted by Heracles."

"Uh huh."

"And rather than get her to safety or contact me, you decided to have a drinking contest with her – to which you lost."

"Uh huh."

"And now, she's gone off to god knows where, whilst still being hunted, and you only decided to tell me about this, _now_?"

"Uh…"

"Am I missing _anything_ else?"

"Uh hu-"

Rather than listen to any more of her drunken rambles, the Gamer placed his hand over the Fallen Angel's head, applying Kami's Fingers to cure her drunken status effect, and watched as she seemed to pep back to life, her eyes becoming more focused as soberness returned to her.

"Ahhh…. That feels good Ise-kun…"

"Mittelt."

The Fallen Angel looked up to his stern face and found no mirth in them.

"A-are you mad at me Ise-kun?"

"What do you think?"

The Fallen Angel shrunk back at his gaze. "D-did I do something wrong Ise-kun?"

"You – no." Issei let out a sigh. "No. I asked you to find out about the Demi-Human Trafficking… running into Heracles was just a coincidence, and you don't know about the current conflict between the Greek Faction and the Vampires, so I suppose you can't be faulted."

Issei let his mind wander.

' _Still, I didn't expect the Greeks to go for such a desperate maneuver. Alucard seems to have strong family values… if they did somehow kidnap his daughter… he'd either fight tooth and nail to get her back, or willingly surrender to keep her safe. Either of those two outcomes are favorable to them_.'

"I-I'm sorry Ise-kun! I swear I can make it up to you!"

Issei looked over to the Fallen Angel before gently rubbing her head.

"You don't have to. We're not perfect, we all make mistakes and I can't hold something so minor against you."

She seemed to beam.

"Ah, that reminds me, I found something interesting! The Demi-human trafficking rings, all of it is purchased and managed by one man!"

Issei rose an eyebrow. "It is?"

"Yeah, it's Midas. King Midas – he's the Wealthiest Being in Existence, said to have absolute control over gold."

The name struck a chord with Issei, and his eyes slowly began to widen.

Midas.

Midas.

 _Midas. Complex._

 _The Midas Complex._

"Mittelt… what mythology does Midas originate from?"

"Huh? It's Greek, why?"

"Of course!" Issei said, managing to find himself laughing "How could I have been so _blind?_ "

In an alternate timeline, Issei had accidentally brought forth the apocalypse by trying to enter a place called the Midas Complex, and though he wasn't certain of it then, he knew for a fact now that he _had_ seen both Hades and Artemis strolling around the complex, and he had even bumped into the former.

It was some sort of supernatural shopping complex for gods and all other sorts of heroic spirits and beings… beings that of course, despite stricter rules being placed on them, would still want to engage in some of their acts and actions of debauchery.

Midas owned the Demi-human trafficking rings, because his main set of clients who would be interested in buying elves and other exotic forms and beings, weren't the normal everyday folk and ilk of the supernatural world.

No, they were gods.

Issei would be willing to put a massive wager, that he'd find her there – if Midas had some connections with the origin of his powers and myth, then there was a huge possibility that he was in the pocket of the Greek Gods and that he was the one hiding Serafall Leviathan.

That explained why diviners and clairvoyants had been unable to find Serafall, because she was hidden in a place so powerful that only _gods_ or beings of god like class, power or abilities could even _see_ it.

It was also the perfect defense, no devil, angel, or vampire would be able to get in to save Serafall – only gods and demigods.

"Finally… I have somewhere to start."

Of course, simply knowing _where_ Serafall was held might have been a huge step in the right direction, but the real challenge lay in _finding_ the place, entering it undetected, rescuing Serafall and escaping – all without managing to sound a single alarm.

And of course, accomplishing all this without gaining the attention of Kratos and a plethora of guards, gods and goddesses.

There was no way he could pull it off alone, yet, he needed to seeing as how one needed to be a god or have a divine ability or item just to see the building, much less enter it.

Unless…

Issei whirled to Mittelt.

"This _is_ the Black Market isn't it?"

The Fallen Angel stared at him oddly, "Yes it is."

Slowly, Issei began to grin. The Black Market – a place to find any and all items which one needed, be they illegal or simply rare. For Issei, this place was also a haven to find _crafting_ materials.

"All right… Mittelt… you know that Sexlock idea thing you had?"

"Yes…?"

Issei slowly cracked his knuckles.

"You're about to witness it become a reality."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Sitri Territory**

 **Training Grounds**

He had spent the greater part of over four hours working on different crafts, and with DLC's help and Mittelt's ideas, the Gamer had finally created it – he had finally created what could only be described as the most deadly, dangerous, yet intrinsically sexy items ever.

At first, Issei had assumed that the boost he gained to crafting perverted items would be useless, but how wrong he was – all he needed to do to create legendary artefacts, was craft them with a primary perverted purpose first, and then add their _real_ functions afterwards.

This way, he could have his companions fight alongside him when it came down to it, rather than simply having them be a liability or a distraction.

Issei now had a full plan of action for the approaching meeting, and knew what to do afterwards.

 **Four Hours Left Till the Devil Gathering**

 **Current Tasks**

 **\- Prepare with Sona for the Devil Gathering**

 **\- Assemble a Protection Detail/Team for the Devil Gathering**

The Gamer approached Sona on the large expanse of land grassy land that was intended for training in the Sitri Territory, finding the girl in a plain aqua-blue tracksuit, and the first thing the Gamer had done, was to extend his hand forward with a small box in it, wrapped by a neat red bow.

"You - you got me a present Hyoudou-kun?"

Issei grinned.

"Only for my megame-chan."

She rolled her eyes at him, before looking at the box, and opening it.

There was an emission of bright light which reflected off the girl's glasses, before they died down to reveal the magnificent content within it.

"A… _choker_ ," she stared at the item, her left eye twitching "Really, Hyoudou-san?"

It was a plain black choker with two half naked women in place as the buckles, which when worn, would connect them together in an intimate fashion. The front of the choker didn't have a ring or hook, rather, it sported an enigmatic, lewd design of two serpents wrapping around a young woman in what could easily be mistaken for tentacle porn.

"Go on, try it on."

"I am _not_ wearing something so lewd and obscene Hyoudou-kun." She said, "Why, would you want me to parade myself with a choker on my neck?"

"Not just _any_ choker," Issei said with a grin, "A choker _I_ made."

She seemed to falter, and her gaze, softened just a fraction that Issei noticed.

"I-I am flattered, Hyoudou-kun, and I appreciate the gift –" she looked at him, still grinning.

She let herself sigh.

"Alright, just this once."

She grabbed the item, staring at it, before putting it around her neck, only to blink in surprise as it automatically adjusted itself, and clasped without any need for her to do so, and managed to form a perfect fit on her neck.

"What is –"

Issei crossed his arms and allowed a smug smile to come on to his face. "That isn't just _any_ choker. It's enchanted."

She gently let her fingers trail over the item. "Enchanted?"

"Part of my new collection, I call them **Carnal Armaments**."

Issei said, before he pointed at the choker.

"The choker is called the **Serpentine Sucker**."

Sona's eye twitched. "If that is supposed to be a sort of reference to me performing fellatio –"

"No, no - it's called that because when activated, it grants you a substantial power boost gained directly from my Sacred Gear." Issei explained, "The choker has the same effect as me transferring power from my Boosted Gear to you, and of course, the stronger I get, the stronger the power of the choker."

Sona stared at him with skeptic eyes.

"Hyoudou-kun, if this is some sort of trick –"

"No tricks Sona, just press the center piece, with the woman wrapped by the snakes, and get ready to be mind-blown."

"With your choice of words, are you _certain_ you didn't have oral sex in mind when making this?"

Issei gave Sona a coy smirk, causing the girl to roll her eyes at him.

Sona let her finger go to the button, before she stopped. "Are there any _other_ effects I should be aware of?"

" _Well_ …" Issei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. It _could_ allow her throat to give unobstructed passage to rather large objects, as Mittelt had so enthusiastically demonstrated with a sausage, a banana, and a freaking _cucumber_ , but there was no way he was going to let Sona know that.

"None that should be noticeable."

Sona rose an eyebrow, but said nothing as she pushed the button.

"Well?"

"I do not feel any diff–"

Sona's head jerk back as her entire body shuddered, and then she stood still.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

"Sona, are you okay?"

"If you wanted to make me feel sexually aroused Hyoudou- _san_ , you just had to ask."

The first thing Issei noted, was the lack of the affectionate suffix, the second, was the fact that Sona's eyes seemed hidden behind her glasses, and the third..

"Sona, is something wrong –"

"Nothing is wrong Hyoudou-kun, if anything, _everything_ is perfect – this choker works well, I can feel the power bursting and bridling in my form and it is, simply, _divine_!"

"O….kay, maybe I should work on it a little more –"

Issei reached out to the choker, instead, however, Sona grabbed his hand and placed it directly on her chest, her breast, where he could feel her beating heart.

"Do you not find it odd, Hyoudou-san, as to how I never asked you _how_ you can create such useful objects? _How_ you can create gravity runes? _How_ you can create pocket dimensions? _How_ you can manipulate shadows?"

Issei slowly swore underneath his breath, especially as her eyes stared directly into his, and he found himself needing a way out of the situation.

"That's because of the Boosted –"

 **Fallacy failed!**

 **Bluff failed!**

" _Again_ , you were about to lie to me Hyoudou-san. I am not stupid, the Boosted Gear does not grant you any of those abilities. Not one."

Issei frowned. "Look Sona, it's not that I _want_ to lie to you, it's just that –"

She shook her head and laughed.

Issei felt shudders run down his spine – he remembered _that_ laugh.

"Just that _what?_ You feel I cannot handle the truth?"

She was not immune to mind reading, nor was she to torture – not that Issei felt that he would ever let those two things happen to her, but the potential risk was too high.

"Yes."

She nodded, slowly. "I see. Is that also why, you failed to inform me about your marriage engagement with Rias?"

Issei's eyes widened. "How did you learn about that?"

"I keep tabs on Rias, I know everything that happens to her before it does – I've known about your arrangement, and I was expecting something, but I suppose you could not trust me."

The Gamer's eyes widened. "No – I was going to tell you –"

"Is this another lie Hyoudou-san, or perhaps, a watered-down version of the truth you feel I can handle?"

The way she spoke the way she acted, and even the strange feature of her calling him out here, Issei's eyes dimmed with wariness as he hit her with Observe.

 **Sona Sitri**

 **Level: 305 [Temp]**

 **Race: Pureblood Devil**

 **Class: King [High-Class]**

 **Alignment: Lawful Evil**

 **HP: 121000/121000**

 **DM: 360625/360625**

 **Status Effects: Bloodlust, Tyrant's Fervor**

Issei's eyes widened at the status effects, and he swore silently to himself.

"Sona, the choker's power is affecting you, – you need to listen to me."

"No – I think I am done listening to you Hyoudou-san. Your lies will not pollute my ears any further."

"Sona, wait - !"

 _Ping!_

 **Danger Detected!**

Her first lunge was _fast_ , catching Issei off guard by the unexpected speed as she delivered a clean kick with her sandaled feet into Issei's jaw, snapping his head back with a sick crack.

 **-2056HP!**

 **HP: 12,944/15000**

Issei swore as he rolled backwards with the hit, rubbing his jaw and coming to the realization that if not for Master Steel Skin and his Gamer's Body, that hit would have killed him there and then.

 **Energy Masochism has gone up by five!**

"Sona – listen to me! You need to take off the choker!"

It was exactly like the power frenzy with Kokabiel all over again, neither hearing him nor his words, as she moved like an ice skater, flowing across the ground and charging at him with a straight hook aiming for his head.

The Gamer blocked the hit with his hands, taking to HP damage, however, his eyes widened when he realized that the hit was a feint to distract him, as a straight kick aimed towards his abdomen.

With Master Assassin's Grace, the Gamer was able to respond in less than one-fifth of a second, side-stepping the attack and catching the girl's outstretched leg.

When Issei had complemented her flexibility a while back, he had never expected it to be used against him, as the Sona moved with one leg, smashing the knee into his face, but only for her to grit her teeth as she was the one who took damage instead, thanks to Issei's Master Steel Skin perk.

Realizing the futility of blunt attacks, she instead wrapped her legs around his face, forcing the Gamer into a form of Triangle choke in an attempt to suffocate him.

In another scenario in which Sona's legs were wrapped around his neck and her crotch so close to his face, Issei would have been a happy man, however, as he could feel the lack of oxygen slowly get to him, and notice his HP slowly begin dropping, he did not have the liberty of enjoying the moment.

"S-Sona, s-stop, I don't w-want t-to do s-something I'll regret!"

His pleas fell on deaf ears, and Issei grit his teeth as he had no choice but to summon tendrils of shadows from the ground to capture the girl, and release him from the choke hold.

He enjoyed a brief moment of reprieve, before his eyes widened as a sword of water appeared from the girl's hand, and in an instant, she sliced up the shadows restraining her and lunged forward with the weapon, intending to stab him straight in the throat.

The Gamer caught the deadly weapon in between his palms by clapping them together, narrowly preventing the blade from hitting his Adam's apple.

He used Frost Flare, turning the weapon into ice, before shattering it, causing Sona to cartwheel back and skid to a stop.

If it were any other circumstance, Issei would admit that Sona was doing good to actually put pressure on him, but at the same time, it was obvious that she wasn't entirely acting of her own free will, and likewise, the Gamer was holding back, _a lot_.

He couldn't use his Boosted Gear, because the extra power would be siphoned off by the Carnal Armament, and only make Sona stronger and faster, and more engaged in battle lust.

Though Issei would not deny that there was something intrinsically sexy about witnessing Sona in this state.

A feeling that he felt he could no longer uphold, as he witnessed the two, gigantic water dragons roaring towards him. He leaped into the air, noticing as the water dragons trailed after him, before he performed Frost Flare and followed it up with Shadow Hands, sending massive tendrils of fisted shadows down at the beasts that were frozen solid, shattering them into a whirlwind of snowflakes.

The snow obscured his vision for a few seconds, and only sheer instinct coupled with his agility perks saved him from being killed by a barrage of subsonic water bullets that rained at him from down below, moving at the speed of _actual_ bullets, Issei weaved through the cascade in mid-air, before using  Substitution to replace himself with a large rock, appearing behind Sona.

She turned, sensing his presence, a spear of water in her hand, ready to impale him, but Issei caught the spear in his hands, grinning as he stared up to Sona.

Oddly enough, she was also grinning, smiling like a maniac, at the sudden standstill.

"You are good Hyoudou-san, I do not think I have fought a worthier opponent, however, you have one weakness –"

Issei rose an eyebrow, only for his eyes to widen as exact duplicates of Sona appeared, made out of water, and they lunged at him.

"Now – there is no way for you to tell which is the real me, and you cannot risk hurting the real me!"

"Is that a challenge?" Issei smirked as an idea popped in his mind.

Utilizing a skill which he had long since had no use for, Angel Vision, in combination with Iris' rainbow powers, Issei felt his eyes glow with a brilliant energy, and it stacked with his Perfect Vision perk to give him a skill he had dreamed for since he was a child.

 _Ping!_

 **Due to combining different skills and perks, a skill to allow you see through objects has been created! You have gained,** **X-Ray Vision** **[Active] Lv. Max!**

Issei wasted no time, as he spun, a Light Katana appearing in his hands, to which he effortlessly cut down the fakes, leaving only the real Sona standing, looking perplexed.

"H-how did you –"

Issei placed the Light Katana on his shoulder, a small smirk coming on to his face.

"Hmm… dragon-print panties? My, that's flattering Sona-chan."

She went pink at the cheeks, in realization, causing Issei to grin.

"Now, that was fun and all, but it's time to get back to normal."

A wave of pure, Telekinetic energy burst forth from him, knocking Sona off balance, before he grabbed the choker from her neck with a Telekinetic Pull, dragging her along with it and sending her directly into his arms.

He let out a sigh of relief as the choker landed directly in his hands.

"H-Hyoudou-kun? What – what is going on? Why are you carrying me?"

"Do I really need a reason? Your thighs are soft, you smell nice, and you've done enough standing for one day."

The girl seemed to waver as she placed her hand on her head.

"That… power surge… it happened again?"

Issei breathed. "Yeah, it's my fault – I should have probably adjusted the choker for a gradual increase in power, not a sudden one."

Her eyes slowly widened. "I-I almost killed you –"

"Wouldn't be the first time; I think this is kinda our thing now, I do something stupid or perverted, you try to kill me for it – I kind of like it."

Sona stared at him from her position in a bridal-style carry in his arms.

"Are you… a masochist Hyoudou-kun?"

"Wouldn't it make things interesting if I was?"

Sona sighed. "Sometimes Hyoudou-kun, I swear that I do not understand you."

Issei plopped onto the grass, causing Sona to fall along with him, landing on his waist and straddling the boy.

"Sona," Issei said, his voice bereft of usual humor, causing her to look at him intently.

"H-Hyoudou-kun?"

"I _was_ going to tell you about the arranged marriage I have planned with Rias – and I wasn't really sure how you'd take it, that's why I brought you the gift –"

"I understand Hyoudou-kun," she said, shaking her head "I will admit I was a bit… worried about it, I thought for a second that you had…"

"I'd never pick Rias over you."

"I know." She whispered " _That,_ Hyoudou-kun, is what worries me."

Issei rose an eyebrow.

"I want Rias to be happy Hyoudou-kun. In spite of everything, she is _still_ my best friend, and I want her to be happy."

Issei let out a solemn breath of air. "I'll try my best."

"Thank you, Hyoudou-kun."

Issei exasperatedly scratched his hair, and ran his palms down his face. How was he supposed to keep lying to her face about his abilities after saying something like that?

"Sona... there's something else I need to tell you. Something important."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Outskirts of Fort Goetia**

There had been a lot of things that Uzumaki Naruto had seen and could explain, and likewise there were events and occurrences that made no sense to him whatsoever.

Kurama had been missing alongside his daughter Kunou, and the sage had decided that the place to start searching for them would be in none other than the infamous Fort Goetia – home to the Fallen Angel Capital.

However, he could not teleport within.

No, as a matter of fact, attempting to use the Hiraishin failed, and he had to get to the distance the old fashioned way, only to find himself wading through an impenetrable sandstorm.

He knew the distance like the back of his hand, yet no matter how many times he entered the sandstorm, when he exited it, he found himself exactly back at his starting location.

It wasn't Genjutsu, nor was it Fuinjutsu. It was something that Naruto had very little experience with, and new very little ways to counter it.

"Goddamn it, I really hate Reality Marbles."

The blond sage stared at the sandstorm, raging in place, only to sport a lone figure walk from within, as though completely unimpaired by it.

Dressed in a golden attire and with dark red hair, Naruto's heart almost leaped for his throat when he saw the man approach.

"G-Gaara?"

No, it was on closer examination, that Naruto realized that the man wasn't the Fifth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand village.

It was the _Fourth_.

"It has been a long time – much, too long, long before I was Midas, and even longer still, that such name was uttered before me."

The immortal sage sighed, before plopping to the ground and staring at him.

"Midas. I'd say this is a pleasure but I'd be lying."

"I am surprised that you are still alive Naruto – you are a relic among relics, and I barely remember my past life as it is."

"Where is Kurama?"

"Currently facing the same dilemma you do – several thousand years was enough time for me to master the use of my gold sand to restrain more tailed beasts than just Shukaku. Sadly, there seems to be only one beast left."

Naruto scoffed, staring down Midas with no small amount of annoyance. Meeting people from his timeline always caused conflicting passions within his head, a desire to reminisce about the past, and a desire to stop them from destroying the future.

"So you moved your giant shopping mall complex thingy that can only be seen and entered by gods toward Fort Goetia; to trap the Fallen Angels and Kurama. Why?"

"I have no reason to answer you Naruto. None of this concerns you anymore."

"Point of correction sandman, it concerns me because Kurama has a wife waiting for him to return with their daughter."

"Daughter?" Midas said, testing the word, before he seemed to come to a realization. "Of course, you mean the little girl. Unfortunately she is no longer my captive."

The raging sandstorm seemed to fluster at the spark of killing intent that radiated from the blond.

" _What?_ "

"She has been distributed amongst my many circles – it seems a young female Kitsune fetches quite a high price in –"

"SHINRA TENSEI!"

The sphere of concentrated gravity traveled a massive distance, crossing the gap between Midas and Naruto in seconds, sending along with it, a spherical wave of super-fast, ultra-sharp sand, only for the the man to turn to gold dust, and for the attack to pass through, uninterrupted.

The sandstorm resumed, pelting the irate blond and leaving him standing alone in a vast space of emptiness.

Naruto grit his teeth and clenched his fists at the missed opportunity, his eyes flashing bloody murder.

"MIDAS!" Naruto roared "If there is a hair out of place on that girl's head, you will _regret_ ever being reincarnated!"

Naruto turned around, eyes narrowing as he fully intended on –

"W-what?"

To the casual observer, it would appear as though Naruto was talking to himself.

"What the hell do you mean by I can't intervene? The agreement was that on crossing level 100 –"

The sage frowned, listening to a voice only he could seemingly hear.

"So what, I can only intervene to help _him_? And no one else? Till when?"

The raging sandstorm buffeted the land, the sound like harsh sandpaper.

" _What?!_ You expect me to wait _that_ long?!"

Naruto grit his teeth.

"Fine. I guess that means he's in for one hell of a crash course."

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Unknown Location**

Now, on a normal day, Hyoudou Issei was not a person to believe in luck. However, sometimes, seeing physical evidence was more rewarding than any form of argument.

 _Ping!_

 **The Lucky Gods shine favor upon you today! You gain a lucky event!**

"I told you I'd make it up to you Ise-kun."

Issei slowly nodded.

"Yes, yes you did."

It was a common belief of beings in the underworld that any man in possession of a small fortune and reputable fame, was in dire need of a castle. Of course, Hyoudou Issei had a lot more on his plate and much more on his mind than even considering the ludicrous notion of actually going out in search of one. A base of operations would be extremely useful, but he had not even once considered getting an _actual_ castle.

So it was to his slight disbelief, when he had been called upon by Mittelt, only to stare at the large, Victorian-esque styled castle which would easily double for a fort and to which he was now the proud owner.

"This… is for me?" he stared, blinking owlishly as Mittelt offered him the key with a smug expression on her face.

"Only the best for my Ise-kun."

"Ero-tenshi… did you even get this?"

The Fallen Angel shrugged and laughed awkwardly. "I er… was able to pull some… strings… here and there."

"Those were some rather large strings."

The Fallen Angel, dressed in her usual gothic-loli attire merely let herself hum as she placed the key into his hands.

"Well, we can always give it away~"

"Not in a million years."

 _Ping!_

 **You have acquired a new home!**

 **You have acquired a new base of operations!**

 **Homestead Quests now available!**

" **A Man's Home is his Castle" – This phrase has now been taken literally for you, and you now have a new base of operations in the Underworld due to an associate of yours pulling strings. You can now instantly Fast Travel between Homes, and can take up Homestead Quests to vastly upgrade and improve your home to your liking, and even turn it into an impenetrable fortress!**

Issei mentally closed the notification, as he turned to Mittelt who was still springing and bouncing on the spot.

"Well, let's go in!"

The Castle was large, and as Issei walked through the main gates, he examined the courtyard and the vast gardens. It was a little bare, but he supposed it would be up to him to bring it back to life. Swinging open the main doors, he noted that the castle contained multiple corridors and multiple doors, it possessed an insanely large living room, an equally larger dining room, and no fewer than sixteen bedrooms but only about six or seven bathrooms. There was almost everything he could think of, the ground floors sported a basketball court, a tennis court, a gym, a library, a large study, an outdoor and indoor swimming pool, a fully stocked bar, a traditional Japanese onsen/hot springs, and on and on it went. There was even a cellar and a basement, a dungeon, and by the looks and make of the entire castle, it seemed to possess several hidden passageways and corridors which would make it all the more worthwhile.

And of course, he could head to the roof of the castle and stare out into the distance, while having a perfect vantage point to observe the four large towers on each end of the large rectangular structure.

All in all, Issei marveled at the furniture, the lighting, and the overall beautiful castle that he still could not believe was his.

"I'm surprised the castle looks spotless… how does the castle look so spotless?"

"You didn't think I'd show it to you if it was going to be a dusty, grimy place?"

"You… cleaned it up? By yourself?"

"Well I did hire some imps to help out –"

Issei turned to stare at the girl, and he shook his head. "I know you felt bad about not telling me about Alucard's daughter… but really, you shouldn't have gone through all this trouble just for me."

"Well I didn't do it _just_ for you – who wouldn't want to live in a place like this?"

Issei nodded. "This place is amazing. It should realistically cost a fortune. It seems odd for it to have been uninhabited… Ero-tenshi… what aren't you telling me?"

"W-well…" Mittelt coughed into her hands "it's location."

"It's location?"

"This castle is located at the border between Demon Country and the Fairy Isles… and with how the demons and fairies are constantly at each other's throats… there's a high chance of this castle either being destroyed or captured by either side just so they can have the upper hand."

"…Of course."

"I can always return i-"

"No. We're using this castle. It should take me a while, but once my Fuinjutsu is up to snuff, I'll make sure to apply wards and seals all around. Once I'm done, a Mosquito won't be able to flap it's wings in this direction without me knowing about it."

The blonde fallen angel stared at him for several long seconds which had Issei finally responding to her odd gaze.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um, it's nothing Ise-kun… just that… you seem a bit… _off_."

The Gamer sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It's just… I have a lot on my mind."

He had told Sona about the Exodus Switch and about his life being a Video Game. He had taken great stakes to avoid mentioning the fact that he had died, or that he had been looping, but he did mention the anomalies… and… it may have shed things in a different light.

Sona hadn't said anything, not a word, except for a tiny "I see", and then that was it, she wandered off to contemplate on matters.

The fact remained that as far as she was concerned, despite the severity of the situations, everything to Issei was quite literally 'a game'.

It made some of the actions he had done look less heroic, noble and valiant, and more of a self-centered nature of the protagonist player doing anything and everything in order to get the upper hand to win.

Of course, anyone would be slightly disconcerted by it all.

Mittelt seemed to rub her chin, before a devious grin came unto her face.

"I think I know what can make it all better!"

Issei was not liking the sound of that.

* * *

 **Underworld**

 **Issei's Castle**

"Okay, this is _kind of_ relaxing."

Issei sat, surrounded by hot steam as he soaked in the relaxing onsen which was designed with numerous rocks, and to which the treated and herbal water granted massive passive boosts to his stats and his meditation.

Then in his hand was a cup of hot sake, which was always constantly being refilled as his companion sat across from him, her hair tied up into a large round bun as she also soaked in the water.

"I told you didn't I?" she drank some of her own alcohol, her cheeks slightly tinted pink, but the origin of which she wasn't sure was due to the heat or due to the liquor.

"Thanks ero-tenshi, I guess I really needed this." Issei said, musing to himself as the hot sake scorched his throat when he gulped it down, finding his eyes stinging from the feeling.

It wasn't enough to get him truly _drunk_ per se, but the liquor was strong enough to have him feeling tipsy more often than naught.

"So… how did the Carnal Armament work?"

Issei thought over it. In the aftermath of his and Sona's odd departure, he really didn't have the time to focus on critiquing the tool.

"It worked well," Issei said, drinking some more "A little too well if you asked me. Why did you ask?"

Mittelt paused at the question, before she took another pitcher of her sake, smacked her lips and shook her head.

"I was thinking of some extra upgrades for it – like adding a Sonic Scream or Siren Wail feature."

Issei rose an eyebrow. "Siren Wail?"

Mittelt nodded. "To either put people to sleep, make them angry, happy, horny…" her eyes seem to glaze "Particularly horny enough to grab the nearest object that even resembles genitalia and thrust their hips towards or against it over and over until –"

"I think I get the picture Ero-tenshi." Issei said with a sweat drop.

"Well... have you assigned the remaining Armaments?" She said, shrugging "It'd be a waste to have created so many and have them just gather dust."

Issei hummed softly.

"Alright, let's do it – also a good time to introduce people to the castle."

Mittelt blinked. "How are you going to get people here?"

Issei merely smirked, a long, mischievous smirk. He let chakra surge through his body, before picturing the individuals in his mind – and of course, the numerous summoning seals attached to their shadows.

"Summoning Technique!"

There was the echo of multiple splashes resounding in the onsen,

In hindsight, it was a _good_ thing that they were in an onsen, as his proficiency with summoning actually could only summon them, and not their clothes or anything they had on them – which he would have to work on and improve later on.

"Ara ara, Koneko-chan? What happened? Where are we?"

"I have a feeling Issei-sempai has something to do with it."

"Ano… I-I-I'm n-n-naked…"

"What trickery is this? Nun, unhand me this instant!"

"Give her a break Kal, she's just shy."

Issei felt the blood rush to his _lower_ head at the sheer total number of beautiful naked women present. His Perfect Vision took in everything from Akeno's balloon-like, perky breasts which were easily the largest present down to her thick, rich thighs and neatly shaven crotch, to Koneko's petite, lithe figure and slightly skinny waist but oh so firm backside, to Asia's budding chest and crossed legs that tried best to hide her innocence to Kalawarner's firm, rigid thighs, surprisingly effeminate legs and generous round breasts and of course to Tsubasa's equally alluring thin waistline that curved easily into an hourglass figure, her inverted nipples and the small patch of blue hair above her sacred region which proved that it was indeed a natural color.

He was extremely grateful that their arrival caused steam to block the view of the onsen, and doubly so that his nether regions were not visible.

Issei turned, noticing Mittelt with a weird detached expression on her face as drool seeped out the corners of her mouth. Her hand started trailing dangerously down to her thighs, and Issei used Telekinesis to pinch her nipples, causing her to yelp.

"If you start pleasuring yourself in here – I will lock you up in a room with DLC and tell her not to stop until _she's_ satisfied."

Mittelt seemed to pale rapidly, and gave two sharp nods.

"Ladies! Welcome to my castle!"

The steam seemed to dissipate a bit, allowing the girls to view Issei, and the Gamer grinned.

Their reactions of course… were all different, but expected.

Koneko lunged at him, seemingly intending to punch him, only for Issei to snap his fingers.

DLC came charging out of the water, and Koneko froze solid, as she was held in place by slime girl in a full human form.

"Now, now – none of that today Koneko-chan… unless of course, you'd like to play with Dil-chan today."

Koneko shuddered in place, but said nothing.

"Ara ara, I must say, your ability to kidnap women is top notch Hyoudou-san, this time around, you somehow managed to abduct and strip me whilst I was fully conscious and doing the laundry."

Issei rose an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Issei! Save me!"

Asia moved behind him, shielding herself from Mittelt, and causing him to sigh at the predictable behavior.

"I'll have you my precious! Your body is just too irresistible!"

Mittelt lunged at Asia, who tried to dodge, only for her to slip, whilst still grabbing a hold of Issei's arm.

Issei's eyes to widen as he realized, cursed, and praised his perk which guaranteed perverted scenarios. He found himself being tackled by Mittlet, whilst falling, he ended up dragging Asia along with him for the ride, and the three ended up in underwater with a large splash in a rather compromising position.

Issei, for the second time in his life _partook_ of the taste of a woman, and for some odd reason, he was not displeased. As Mittelt somehow ended up _kissing_ him with her _lower_ lips, she also partook of another woman, ending up with her face landing smack dab between Asia's thighs.

Asia however, had the unfortunate luck to partake of a man, as her lips landed on something long, hard and firm.

She screamed.

 _Ping!_

 **Double Bonus! Perverted Situation!**

 **Gained +10 Strength, +6 Vitality, +4 Dexterity!**

They disengaged faster than they connected, with Asia arising and taking a huge gasp of air.

"A M-M-M-Monster… I k-k-kissed a m-monster."

The other inhabitants in the room were confused, right up until Issei stood, and there wasn't enough steam in the world present that could hide the monster, letting it dangle wild and bare, for all to see.

There was a stretch of silence.

"S-sweet h-heaven, look at the s-size of that –"

"A-a-are they supposed to be _that_ big?"

"Ara ara, I n-never would h-have guessed you were so… well endowed, Hyoudou."

The three women had clear nosebleeds, with Kalawarner doing her best to hide hers, Tsubasa wiping hers unabashed, and Akeno merely grinning as she let it be.

Interestingly, Asia had passed out, and so had Koneko.

Mittelt gained a crazed look in her eyes as she stared at him. "I can't hold back anymore Ise-kun… you're tongue _stirring_ me… _tasting_ me… I must, _must_ taste you too!"

Issei groaned and face-palm himself as Mittelt lunged at him, only for DLC to intervene, as tentacles of slime wrapped around the Fallen Angel and held her in place, and then they began _exploring_.

The gamer rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation, realizing that this had not gone the way he had anticipated.

"W-wait! Not that hole! Thing's go _out_ from there, not in!"

It hadn't gone as anticipated, at all.

 **Two Hours Left Till the Devil Gathering**

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Satan's Theater**

"This place… is huge."

The location for the devil gathering was in a place large enough to have easily been at least three times the size of an average football stadium, it would be extremely easy for one to get lost within the building, and even easier still for one to wander it for days and not find all the secrets hidden within.

Rumor had it that the Original Four Satans stored multiple treasures within the theater, which of course contained a grand ball room, dining room, conference room, and even multiple guest rooms it seemed.

Issei's eyes noticed the patrol of the guards, as they were quite possibly in the dozens, going around their businesses, and even more so were the maids and butlers.

 **One Hour Left to the Devil Gathering!**

It had taken Issei an entire hour to properly outfit the girls with their new Carnal Armaments – a set of lewd, but extremely dangerous weapons and armor.

In that time, he had also informed them about their roles in the incoming event – only Akeno, Koneko and Tsubasa could actually enter the event, whereas Mittelt, Asia and Kalawarner had their jobs focused on the outside.

It was a gut feeling, an intrinsic gut feeling that made Issei prep them up, as something told him that the gathering was not going to end in a pleasant manner.

All that had remained for Issei so far, was to find Sona, and of course – as he realized, to outfit himself with a proper attire for the event.

Issei cracked his knuckles, as he prepared himself for his most difficult battle yet –

 _Politics_.

 **DANGER DETECTED –**

Never before had his gamer ability so loudly and unexpectedly warned him of danger, and Issei turned, on sheer instinct, his eyes scanning around as quickly as he could, unable to find nor sense the disturbance. He quickly glanced at his minimap, finding a glowing red dot – he dashed towards the location, skidding to a stop when he reached the location, and found in place a smiling young boy.

The boy was effeminate, dressed in an elegant suit, and seemed to have a cheerful aura to him – a cheerful aura which was masked in the thick scent of blood.

 **Dhampire of Death**

 **Gasper Vladi Lv. ?**

The boy turned to him, as though realizing he was being stared at.

"Oh… hello!"

 **DANGER DETECTED –**

Issei blinked, turning on nothing more than sheer instinct as his scythe was in his hand and his Boosted Gear activated, placing it directly behind him, not even knowing why he was panting so heavily.

The boy smiled at him, a fanged smile that seemed to grow massively.

"Wow! Such reflexes! Six nanoseconds? It's good… but a little too… _slow_."

 **DAN –**

Issei had no idea how to respond to the feeling of a breath against his neck, and a slow peck that was left on it, turning around to strike, but finding his target gone.

 **D –**

There was a tap on his shoulder, and Issei turned, finding the boy once more, smiling in a manner that sent further shivers down his spine.

Issei didn't know why he was on such edge around the boy, who had so far done nothing even remotely threatening.

"Gasper, stop fooling around. We have business to attend to."

The familiar red cloak and pale skin of Alucard came into view, giving a short glance at Issei, before leaving as though the Gamer was an insignificant speck on the wall.

The enigmatic boy nodded. "Hai, Alucard-sama!"

The boy gave Issei a two fingered salute, and smiled.

"Let's meet again next time – it'll be fun, I promise!"

With that he was gone, vanishing from Issei's sight despite the Gamer never once removing his gaze from him.

It had taken five full seconds for the Gamer to realize his entire body was shaking.

It took another three for him to mentally identify the emotion as fear.

Gamer's Mind kicked in, and Issei shook off his stupor, before slowly coming to a clear decision.

"Gasper Vladi… a person that should _never_ be my enemy… _ever_."

~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

 _ **A**_ **uthor's Note: And at last, this arc kicks forward with the Devil Gathering.**

 **FYI, the inspiration for this part of the arc is from the Quest where you pick a ruler, "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts" in Dragon Age: Inquisition. If you know it, then you know what you're in for.**

 **Oh and of course, some ecchi. You can never go wrong with ecchi - especially now that Issei has weaponized it in the form of Carnal Armaments.**

 **Anyway, this chapter focused [mostly] on Issei's POV in order to try and make things clearer and simplify the plot - every sub-arc in this Arc is directly related to the Main Arc - _not_ side quests, as you might probably assume.**

 **Now I have only one question that I feel may be a matter of opinion, but will ask anyway.**

 **1\. In Gamer fics, why does _no one_ ever get offended or suspicious that "sth" has a video game ability, and consider, for just one second, the possibility that everything they've done, everything they do, is out of the selfish, Gamer-oriented mentality to win, and nothing else? **

**I mean, come on, even in Games like Skyrim - you don't really care about the people, just the rewards from quests, getting stronger, exploring caves, killing dragons... yadda yadda yadda.**

 **It's a personal opinion, but fuck it, if I had a best friend who had gamer powers, I'd feel really insulted to realize the possibility that all our best moments and memories occurred as a result of some "Quest", or that the only reason we're friends in the first place was because he'd gain experience points from it.**

 **Anyway this AN has dragged on too long, so as always, thank you for reading and kindly please review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	26. Anomaly II: Performances

**Over 2000+ Follows and 2000+ favorites with 300,000+ views. You guys are AMAZING!**

 **No really, if someone had told me that I'd ever have a fic with such statistics, I'd have laughed my ass out.**

 **Anyway, I am almost done with my exams and in no time at all I should be able to start posting regularly again. I will not deny that this chapter came to me after a lot of heavy deliberation, editing and re-editing, due to of course the review responses I got. Why? Because I felt that most of my readers may not have the heart for the road I intended traveling. Trying to balance out light-hearted and grim moments in this story seems to be one of the most challenging issues I have with it, and I had no choice but to edit various aspects of the plot from this arc to the last.**

 **So, expect some twists and turns that you did not expect**.

* * *

 **\+ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition +**

 **Chapter 25:**

 **Anomaly II: Performances**

* * *

 **Earlier…**

 **Approximately 5 Hours before Devil Gathering**

 **Kuoh**

 **Busujima Estate**

"They make this look _so_ difficult on TV."

Garbed in what was essentially a black turtle-neck sweater with thick gloves, black combat pants and shoes, the blood clone of Hyoudou Issei, also known as Cloud, found himself stuck on the upside of a wall, utilizing chakra to keep him in place as he stared at the patrolling guards.

He was assigned the arduous task of meeting with Murayama's father, in hopes of getting some information about Freed. Seeing as how the girls had been transported to the Underworld, he had no one left to tormen… er, _train_ , and had no other choice but to complete the task.

It was almost ridiculously easy as to how Cloud had infiltrated the Busujima Estate and found himself within the home of Murayama's father. In the Darkness, he had been completely unspotted and he was a silent, ghostly figure in the night that could not have been seen or detected by any normal or possible means.

Now, why go through the trouble of sneaking in rather than just walk through the front door or demand a meeting like a normal person? Because he _could_ , and more importantly, because it would be way cooler to simply just pop into someone's home, and then sit on the couch drinking a cup of tea, than to walk through the front door.

Who cared if it was technically a crime? It was _cool_ , that was all that mattered.

However, there was something… _odd_ about the estate. There were _far_ too many guards for it to be a simple residence, matter of fact, the guards weren't quite normal humans per se, but more of the level of trained elite swordsmen.

All dressed in kimono robes, all carrying swords at their side, with the familiar wooden sandals that one would associate with a samurai from the Edo Period.

Then of course, where the numerous charms, trinkets, talismans and all other sorts of equipment which one would be more apt to have found strolling through an old Chinese curios shop than they would on ordinary security guards.

There was of course, the fact that the house, despite being a traditional styled Japanese pagoda, was several stories tall and more or less resembled a fortress than it did a residential location.

"So… either this branch of the Busujima family are exorcists, or there is something seriously fishy with this scene."

The building just screamed of wealth and affluence and looked to be the sorts that would get gold-diggers salivating at the thought of being close to anyone who lived there.

Of course, therein lay the problem. They were a family of Swordsmen and apparently, exorcists, and the last time Cloud checked, money didn't fall from vanquishing evil spirits, nor were you given a Jacuzzi filled with bills for cleansing a house of a poltergeist.

Speaking of which, Cloud mentally decided to bath in a Jacuzzi filled with money after his current task. He was certainly rich enough for it.

Putting off that goal for the meantime, the Blood Clone's Mini-Map highlighted patrols and possible enemies as red dots and even gave the locations they were facing, as well as displaying the entire layout for the compound once he moved around a little bit.

He had eventually found his target, a blinking orange dot, which made Cloud raise his eyebrow at the weirdly colored individual, but didn't question it. A minor application of Tree Walking once more became his aid as he horizontally walked upside down on several ledges and balconies, before he silently reached a window.

"Larceny."

Cloud stole the window and stored it into his inventory, before swinging into the mansion, and landing with a soft, silent ' _thump'_ that he made great pains to ensure was utterly inaudible.

He replaced the window so as not to draw suspicion to himself, and began silently moving through the mansion, constantly glancing at his map so as to know which rooms contained what, which were occupied, which weren't, and the fastest route to his target.

The house, as he had somewhat expected, was filled with the traditional Japanese sliding doors, the floor was wooden, and the corridors seemed utterly spotless, as though soap and water had made love on it.

His map told him the location of his target, but rather than enter it, he diverted, finding himself in a bedroom.

Unlike everywhere else in the pagoda, the bedroom was dusty, scattered, and yet, somehow empty. On it, was a mantle, a picture of a little girl, covered in all sorts of bruises, wielding proudly what looked like a belt – and there was a man, with a stern face, who looked on in what seemed to be a small amount of satisfaction.

The room was sparse, Cloud noted, no posters, no pictures, no dolls, no toys, no _nothing_. Just a place to sleep, a couple of training weights, several discarded Kendo sticks and several unpolished trophies.

Cloud didn't know why he felt annoyed, _angered_ even, as he swung open the wardrobe, finding nothing hanging there but martial arts gi and a few plain clothes.

He pilfered through drawers, feeling his annoyance and anger grow with each one he found containing nothing but either training items, plain, colorless objects, or something related to martial arts.

"Did she… did she even have a life of _her_ own?"

The room, a room a _child_ had lived in for _years_ , and there was _nothing_ , no, not _one_ thing that indicated that the child had even _lived_. No toys, no dolls, no posters of pop idols, no hidden collection of Yaoi manga – no _nothing_.

Cloud _knew_ , that Issei had felt responsible for what happened to Murayama – her breaking her neck and her consequent assault had been Issei's fault, however, Cloud also _knew_ , that the Gamer had been putting off seeing Murayama, because no matter how much of a smooth talker he was, he didn't know how to face her after _everything_.

That was probably the same reason he hadn't gone off to capture Selzen yet. There was no _way_ that Issei would have been unable to find him with his map.

Cloud ran his hand through his hair, sighing in annoyance. He of course knew full well that Freed Selzen and Murayama Busujima had been living together – the girl was either utterly daft, or completely lonely and lost, for her to have saved the psychopath and let him into her house.

Of course, if she had known just what exactly had happened between them in a past timeline… well, it would be a very bitter pill to swallow.

Cloud however, didn't believe in judging people by past mistakes – judging his original by his past, would admit to being a replica of the moronic idiot who had led to the destruction of the world and everything in it.

"I hate inept parents…" Cloud sighed, shaking his head as he stepped out of the room.

Only to freeze as he turned, realizing that there was a woman beside him.

' _I-impossible – she didn't show up on the minimap!_ '

The black haired woman in long white robes swayed, leaning to the left like a boxer ready to throw a punch, and there was a glint of silver that caught Cloud's vision.

' _Can't let her notify the guards –_ '

It was a combination of instinct and sheer bloodlust, Cloud caught the extended blade which was headed for his head, the Master Steel Skin perk helping him shatter it like it was mere ice, and he launched out, his left arm swinging like a golf player, striking the woman directly in chin, where he hoped would knock her out, but not kill her.

He was startled however, when the punch connected, and he heard a cracking sound, as the face of the 'woman' caved in under his fist, and her entire head was obliterated by the force of the hit.

She fell back, lifeless, and Cloud blinked in confusion.

There was no blood.

His eyes narrowed into slits as his X-Ray Vision activated, and he saw something that surprised him.

"A… puppet?"

It was a lifeless, autonomic doll – a marionette of sorts which was capable of moving, but was otherwise completely static.

"Where have I seen such a –" he stopped.

A memory flashed in his mind, but it wasn't _his_ , no, it was from the memories he had gotten from the one known as Hidan.

"This is… a Sunagakure styled puppet… masterfully made even… but what in the world would _this_ be doing here?"

All of a sudden, Cloud realized that his mission had just become much more complicated. Doubly so even, as it seemed that his minimap apparently didn't pick up the existence of the puppet at all – not even as an item, if not as a threat or enemy.

There was only one thing that made his game functions malfunction.

Cloud dashed through the hallways, finding his target as an orange dot, but however, on his minimap, there was something else there – something which showed only as a glitch-like dot.

It didn't take him entirely long to find the large doors of the room which belonged to his target, and he prepared himself to open them, only to fall completely still at the conversation he could hear from within.

"My lord… I was not expecting you." The voice spoke in a form of refined, elevated Japanese, and was clearly belonging to a middle-aged man.

"It matters not Reiji, I appear and leave as I will."

The voice made Cloud's eyes narrow, causing the Blood Clone to utilize application of X-Ray Vision solved the problem for him.

The door in front of him turned transparent to his sight, and he found within the room, a Red Haired man in golden armor, possessing a regality that would send gods themselves into fits of envy, his gaze sharp and positioned like a harpoon attached to sniper rifle, and every single move he made screamed _power_.

 **The Wealthiest Being in Existence**

 **The Gold King**

 **M!|) $ Lv. ?**

' _Fuck me.'_

There was another man kneeling to the first, who strongly resembled a samurai, with his brown hair tied up into a ponytail, and dressed in a long blue kimono. There was also a sword at his side, engraved on it was a pattern of what seemed to be a firebug, one which was both engulfed in, and breathed fire, and the blade's _sheath_ looked sharp enough to cut through steel with ease.

 **The Phantom Firebug**

 **Master Exorcist**

 **Reiji Busujima Lv. ?**

' _Double-fuck me. Damn you Issei…! Why am I the one who has to deal with an anomaly here?!'_

Cloud stilled his breathing, utilizing Meditation to make himself as still as possible, as he observed the interaction between the duo.

Or more accurately, he tried to Observe Reiji, only to be annoyed as the only thing he could gleam was his biographical information.

 **Bio: Reiji Busujima is one of the twelve most powerful exorcists in the world, who took great pains to hide his strength and his name in order to avoid being tracked by enemies. He is a master swordsman of the Busujima clan and an exorcist who originally began with the Eastern Style of Purification, but eventually decided to join the Vatican in hopes of learning more ways to defeat devils and purge evil spirits. In his travels, he rescued and apprenticed a young Freed Selzen for a great while, and his teaching methods and worldview was speculated to be the reason Freed defected. He eventually admitted to having no belief in god and decided to leave his role of an exorcist, which was strongly opposed by the Vatican, and eventually led to him fighting Griselda Quarta to a standstill in order to attain his freedom.**

' _Oh you've got to be bleeping kidding me!'_

 **Miscellaneous Info: Reiji is under the employ of the Gold King Midas, his vast knowledge of the anatomical features of supernatural beings, devils and angels being what was required for Midas to make his Fortress "The Midas Complex" undetectable to all but gods. Midas also believes him to be a long-lined descendant of a shinobi from the forgotten eras.**

Cloud closed the Bio, shaking his head as he decided that all of this was immensely not worth the hassle, but alas, he was a mere blood clone, and this was valuable information gathering time.

"I have a task for you Reiji, and this task could very well be your last."

The man rose, his eyes seeming to possess a steel to them.

"Anything you command Lord Midas."

"The daughter of the Yokai King is a retrieval target for a very powerful man. I bluffed him into believing she was sold out like merchandise, but as a precaution, you will stand guard for her until our plans are complete."

"T-The Yokai King's daughter my lord? Of what need is she when you have ensnared the being himself?"

' _W-w-what? He captured the Yokai King?'_

"A bargaining chip; one of great import… as the bond between father and daughter is a thing that cannot be underestimated."

"Of… course… my lord."

Cloud observed as how Midas seemed to notice the lack of vigor in the man's response, his dark, dispassionate eyes seemingly narrowing slightly in comprehension.

"Do not tell me you are still maintaining malice with your daughter, Reiji."

"My lord… such matters need not burden you –"

"That was not the answer I was looking for, Reiji."

The samurai seemed to grow very cold.

"Murayama is no daughter of mine – not anymore. She has become a _devil_ , my lord. I will not stand for the ideal of _my_ own blood becoming a monstrous creature."

The Blood Clone watched, gritting his teeth as he had to stop himself from barging in and punching the arrogant bastard in the face.

Midas seemed to contemplate Reiji's words, ponder it for a few brief seconds, before he shook his head.

"Your mind is clouded Reiji… you are conflicted on what to do with your daughter, if such conflictions will impede your work –"

"They would never! My lord –"

"Such a risk is not worth taking, especially when your opponents will not hesitate to cut you down as you stand." Midas gave him a straight look. "End your confliction before you can begin the tasks I have set for you; decide now what to do with her – or _I_ will."

"As you wish… my lord."

"Now, on to other matters –"

Reiji Busujima brought forth a long scroll from his sleeve, examining it and nodding.

"As you anticipated my Lord, the plans for the invasion are proceeding as expected – your golden army is almost complete."

Cloud's mind was whirling. Invasion? Golden army?

"We have complete control of Fort Goetia and all the Fallen Angels within its midst are yours to command."

Cloud wanted to swear. ' _Fuck. Fucking, bloody fuck._ '

"And the commanders of the Grigori? Azazel was quite difficult to pin down… how fares his _readjustment_?"

Reiji looked over a different scroll. "The spell you instructed to be used on him seems to have taken effect – he will be as meek as the rest in no time."

"Jutsu."

Reiji rose an eyebrow, a sentiment which was shared by Cloud.

"My Lord?"

"It is not a spell but a Jutsu; a shinobi technique, used primarily by a man known as Sasori… he was from my village." Midas seemed to stare up, as though reminiscing of something before he shook his head.

"This is the last and most delicate stage Reiji, I cannot have any slip ups and let Athena discover my plans."

The brown haired man slowly folded the scroll.

"Which brings it to question my lord… what do you have planned for the Goddess?"

"She suspects nothing and believes me to be her puppet, and when the time comes, the very strings she believes she holds, will be the tool that chokes her will out of existence."

Cloud let out a slow, cold breath. Midas turned, staring at the door before his face morphed into that of a scowl.

"Leave to your business at once Reiji,"

"My lord?"

"Now."

The man bowed, before he seemed to merely vanish in a burst of speed, vanishing from Cloud's senses and map.

' _Fast!'_

"And in the meantime… I shall handle this pest problem. How I loathe vermin."

Cloud swore, jumping back from the door not a second too late as it was bombarded with a swarm of golden sand, the golden sand stretched forward, slamming him into the passage way with all the force of a giant swatting a fly, before it pinned him down, and the Blood Clone watched as his hands and legs turned to pure, solid gold, keeping him unable from moving.

' _He can turn things to gold_ without _touching them?! That's bullshit!_ '

The dark eyes of the Gold King stared down at him, and then, it seemed to fill with amusement.

No, to call it 'filling with amusement' would be the same to refer to the enthusiastic vigor of men valiantly charging to their deaths as _mere_ bravado.

Rather, it was like the sun had been compressed into a light bulb and it lit in a cold dark cave that had known nothing but darkness since the day it came into existence.

And Midas, _smiled._

The man with the golden heart and apathetic eyes, _smiled_.

"A shinobi technique? In this day and age? A blood clone no less? This… this is amusing. Perhaps… you are the one to give me what I seek."

Cloud scoffed. "I'm sorry to burst your bubbles pal, but I don't swing that way."

Midas' smile vanished faster than it appeared. "A shinobi, but a fool. How unfortunate."

Cloud attempted to utilize his skills to break out, only for him to still as Midas' hands came directly on top of his head.

Cloud let out an internal sigh, his mind wandering the brief moments of his existence, questioning if it had been fun, if it had been worthwhile.

He was going to miss teasing Koneko.

He was going to miss bantering with Akeno.

He was going to miss torturing Kiba.

Hells, he was going to miss living.

He could have bluffed his way out of anyone else by claiming that if he was killed, all the information he had would be sent to the original, but Midas wouldn't kill him, oh no, the man would turn him to _gold_ , left forever conscious as a living statue. That was a fate _much_ worse than death.

If only he'd at least had sex before he stopped existing… that would have been great. Well, at the very least, it was a good thing he came prepared for his death.

He was equal parts genius and madness – preparing for one's demise was an attribute both traits had in common.

"So… this is the part where you turn me to gold?"

Midas paused. "Tell me, what do you think?"

Cloud let out a grin. "I think… if I'm going to die anyway, I'd like to request for one tinsy, bitsy, little favor."

The Gold King stared at him dispassionately. "You are a mere blood clone, what favor could you possibly ask for?"

Cloud's form began to glow an ominous light, as holy and demonic energy began crackling within, the blood clone's grin stretching to mad limits.

"For you, and every person in this bloody castle to die along with me."

Midas' eyes widened.

"You wouldn't dar –"

"FOR THE GLORY OF BREASTS AND ALL WHO ARE HORNY –"

There was a spark of twilight light, Midas' flinched at the declaration as he jumped back – two seconds too late.

"FINAL TWILIGHT MUTHAFUCKER!"

* * *

 **~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~**

 **Underworld**

 **The Midas Complex**

The slow, repetitive sound of water dripping was the symphony that had become the background music of her life. Her sense of time had long since abandoned her like the crew of a ship sailing headlong into an iceberg named despair. The single dim light flickered unstably, it's vicissitude serving as a mocking reminder that her free-will had been stripped from her, as even a lightbulb had the liberty of choosing when to shine its light, and when to present its darkness.

She knew nothing other than the cold godly bars which served as her captors, and beyond it, only darkness. Her usual outfit was ruined, and her modesty covered only by a loincloth, which was at the behest of the cold one – what was his name? Yes… the one called Midas. He had the decency of stating that her body disgusted him, and had allowed her the reprieve of rags which had been called garments.

The other one, the idiot, as she had begun calling him, Apollo, had instead come by her cell multiple times, either to leer at her and make annoying comments and gestures. He had tried touching her – once, a mistake which he learned never to make again after she had ferociously bit his fingers off.

She hadn't received food for another three months afterwards, but it was worth it.

Was it months? She wasn't sure – all she knew, was that her cell, her _prison_ , was kept in a dimension which altered her perception of time. It was both psychological imprisonment and physical – as weeks would pass for her within, but only mere hours outside – so it would feel as though it had been weeks since she last ate between her breakfast and her dinner.

Why was she treated such? Why was she forced to such cruel punishment despite being such an important prisoner?

Because the idiot, thought it was _funny_.

Thought it would _break_ her.

She made a mental note for him to be the first one that she killed when she got out.

Maybe she would spare the bald one, all he ever did when he was 'guarding' her – which was whenever she was given food and water – was to stand and grunt like a neutered bull-dog who had refused the advances of a leering poodle.

Odd, she noted, considering how she was the one who was chained, with long golden chains wrapped around her ankles, and another pair constraining her wrists, she idly never noted or realized just how much she hated the concept of chains for so long.

Actually, with so much time passing by, and between the starvation and the constant parched thirst, all she had time to do was think. Ponder, reflect – most of all her reflections often ended up back on her sister, wondering how her sister was doing, wondering if her sister had finally gotten a boyfriend, wondering if her sister was happy.

She could almost picture the manner in which her sister would blush and adjust her glasses anytime she brought up the concept of intimacy and romance, or whenever she hugged her so enthusiastically in public, or whenever she wore her usual magical girl outfit around her.

She found herself giggling. "So-tan is such a prude."

" **Has this prison finally driven you insane Leviathan?** "

She sprung up faster than she ever had before, her eyes darting around as she listened to the voice, an odd one, which she had never heard before.

"Who's there?" she called, "Show yourself!"

It was odd, watching as a man arose from the shadows, as though he commanded them, with pale white skin that looked as though it had been colored with chalk and then bleached afterwards, dark blank eyes lacking pupils, a pointed nose and rugged jaw, dark hair which made midnight seem to be of a lighter shade, and eventually, his form came out like that of an Adonis – rugged, shapely, but yet cloaked in a black silk material like the son of the death reaper.

" **My, My – a shame. A shame indeed! How so low the mighty have fallen**."

His smile seemed as though it had been plastered over by expert sculptors.

" **Serafall Leviathan… the Strongest Female Devil in the underworld, praised for her beauty and power! Said to be able to destroy – vanish even – the entirety of islands if she were to simply,** _ **glitter**_ **.** "

The man walked towards the bars, raking his long nails against them.

" **And here she is – the impeccable woman reduced to a simple damsel in distress – awaiting rescue from her darling prince.** "

Slowly, her eyes widened, her mind instantly recalling just _who_ and more importantly, _what_ the being in front of her was.

"You are... Ca-"

" **I go by** _ **Jashin**_ **now, and I think it matters not who I am or was – what only matters, is what I can do.** "

She moved closer to the cage, only to wince as she came into contact with the bars.

"And what is that?"

" **I can open these bars – free you from this prison, set you free into the world and make the Greeks lose their oh-so-valuable prisoner –** "

Serafall's eyes widened, but they narrowed in suspicion immediately afterwards. No. She was dealing with one of _them_ , one of the three craftiest primordial beings in existence, of course it would not be that easy.

"Why would you do that?"

" **Because I hate – utterly despise even – the cliché story of the damsel in distress and her noble prince. It reeks of weakness and a fairy tale setting so incessantly horrid I could almost throw up thinking of it.** "

He kept referring to her as a damsel, and the manner in which he spoke, it made it sound as though he believed that there was supposed to be someone out there who was coming for her.

But… that wasn't right, was it?

"What prince? No one is coming to rescue me."

" **Ah! But that's where you're wrong, you have a noble individual who has been thinking of ways to come here and save you – and I am certain, it would be most pleasing to watch the exasperation in his eyes once he discovers that I could have brought him here all along – so easily.** "

Jashin gave melancholic sigh. " **Alas, had he not decided to be an uppity brat and prevent me from turning a goddess into my sex slave, I would have felt obliged to help him. But that is neither here nor there – he must learn that his actions have consequences.** "

She didn't understand him, but her confusion gave way to a small amount of hope which had not yet been abandoned.

"Does that mean… _you_ are here to rescue me?"

He gave her an amused smile and her hope died.

" **And just why exactly would I do something like that?** "

"You just said –"

" **I know what I said, and as much as this situation irritates me, it is not my intention to make the boy's problems vanish, if anything, my intention is the opposite.** "

The loss of hope instead turned into an irritation that she couldn't ignore, and she found herself slamming her chains against the bars in anger.

"Then what are you doing here?!"

" **Simply to inform you of something, something which you might need to know… it does after all, involve your sister.** "

With one word, he had her hooked. Sona had always been her weak spot, and there was no hiding it.

"What happened to her?"

Jashin palmed a mysterious orb. " **Nothing yet, however, as we speak, Midas plans to overthrow the entirety of Olympus, turning the entire pantheon of gods into his mindless puppets – and with this army, he will launch a full scale invasion on the Satan's Theater, where, quite so** _ **coincidentally**_ **,** " at this point Jashin's voice was dripping with sarcasm " **All the prominent devils in the underworld are located. Including of course, your sweet, dearest, sister.** "

"N-no… that's not – that's not possible!" Denial, she noted, but she tried to find some sort of reason, some _logic_ to her denial that would make it become something more. "How can one man defeat all the gods of Olympus?"

" **He has the commanders of the Grigori, a godslayer and strongest tailed beast as weapons – honestly, if he attempted to overthrow heaven with those alone, he would succeed.** "

She reeled. "W-w-what?"

" **I have told you quite enough – a little too much – in fact. Fortunately or unfortunately, the person who has sworn to save you is smart –** _ **too**_ **smart – and no doubt he has already uncovered a portion of Midas' plans. However… I wonder Leviathan… are you really so weak that you would leave your destiny, and that of your sister, into the hands of someone else?** "

With those words, the being faded away, leaving her once more with the silent echoes of silence, and the slowly dripping sound of water.

The dripping of water came from outside the cage, and it was meant to mock her, as her strongest element, her most powerful weapon was barely within her grasp, and she could not so much as reach for it.

No.

When her people were in danger… when her loved ones were in danger… there was nothing she would not do to save them.

Nothing.

She stared at her chained hands, and took a deep breath.

"I'll really be the most unique magical girl after this."

She let out a roar of effort, and the cell was filled with the sickening crack of a bone breaking, she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, her eyes easily watering from the pain which struck her with such a sensation she had never quite endured before.

She pushed aside the pain, realizing, with a form of appreciation, that one hand was free. Of course, the hand that was free was broken, at the wrist, and the bone protruded out of it in an unsightly manner that would have no doubt caused many of her ardent fans to faint at the sight.

She smiled however, feeling the restraints on her magic of that hand eventually fade away, restoring unto her a limited portion of magical energy.

The blood dripped freely onto the ground.

Slowly, it rearranged itself into the familiar crest of the Sitri clan.

"Sorry mystery prince… your hime-chan is in another castle."

* * *

 **~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~**

 **Underworld**

 **Satan's Theater**

"Pink… red… turquoise… violet… blue… red again… black… black… another black…"

The back left heel of a female guest's shoe suddenly snapped, making the young woman stumble into a waiter and sending drinks spewing unto unsuspecting individuals who yelled in outrage.

"Hyoudou-kun, could you kindly refrain from examining the color of the guests' underwear?"

Another waiter's shoelaces unbuckled, causing him to slip, stumble and send more drinks splashing amongst the populace.

"More interested in the type then? Okay, well, there's plain, and there's a thong… and oooh, she's wearing something rather frisky –"

" _Hyoudou_ –"

Two young men walked past each other, in hats and ties, and without realizing it, their respective hats had swapped, causing them to stop and begin an argument.

"You made the right choice not wearing the dragon print underwear today. Though… I didn't expect you to go for a lacy black… and that corset works wonders with it –"

"Are you _trying_ to rile me up Hyoudou-kun?"

Issei comfortably adjusted the collar of his Chinese-styled kimono-suit as he put on a smile on his face, a glass of wine held in his left hand, idly swirling the liquids within as his eyes were busy watching the nobility and high class of the underworld dance and prance around in ridiculously flashy outfits that must have cost more fortunes than mankind would ever be able to raise.

The room serenely echoed of classical music in the background, courtesy of an entire orchestra of servants, playing the likes of either Mozart or Beethoven, to which Issei was unsure and to which he did not care – not because he was tense, he just wasn't a virtuoso.

The Gamer took another _calm_ sip of his wine, realizing and pondering as to whether or not he was indeed turning into an alcoholic, before directing his gaze to his companion Sona who was dressed in a slightly similar outfit, a knee-length Chinese-styled gown with slits on both sides, and exposing her back, and Issei had to keep himself from staring, _too_ much.

Especially since his X-Ray Vision had been activated for a while now.

Surprisingly enough, she was wearing the **Serpentine Sucker** , to which, Issei realized that he needed better names for his Carnal Armaments.

"I'm trying to ease the tension – which doesn't seem to be working apparently. Relax Sona, you're so tense that I can practically smell the uneasiness off you."

Sona's arms crossed underneath her chest, clasping her arms, before she let out a semi-resigned sigh.

"Ease the tension? Is that what you refer to causing so much chaos?"

Issei let out a smooth grin. "You noticed?"

Sona tried as subtly as she could to refrain from adjusting her glasses in irritation. "Please tell me you have a good reason for ruining so many clothes and causing all this disarray."

The Gamer shrugged, grabbing another glass of wine from a passing waiter, gulping it down, and then subtly replacing it with a glass that a man was attempting to offer to another lady, causing her to scoff at him, and leaving the chap looking completely lost.

"Part of it is to increase my Telekinesis skill… the rest, is to draw attention."

As he made that comment, a passing maid with larger than normal breasts appeared, seemingly to try and magically whisk away all the wine spills, only for Issei to wag his eyebrow, and the woman's top buttons were sent flying by an invisible Telekinetic force whilst coincidentally, her bra came undone.

She squealed as her breasts came into view and many male devils paused to stare in appreciation with nosebleeds, only for their brief moment of inattention to cause even more collisions.

Sona glanced at him with a sharp expression as it was clear that she was trying very hard not to punch him.

"And what, may I ask, are you drawing attention to?"

"Sona, this _entire_ place screams to me like a death trap… all the major devils of the remaining 72 pillars, gathered at one location, whilst so _coincidentally_ – I know for a fact that there is an army planning an invasion."

Issei grabbed another glass, this time around, the wine was a dark violet.

"I'm putting everyone on edge – making them pay attention to little details and keeping them on their toes, because it might just be the spoilt snobby devil who doesn't want to ruin her dress that notices when the drinks have an odd smell, or when there's someone doing something out of place."

Sona wanted to refute his logic, until she noticed, that indeed the guests had become extremely wary and paranoid of the clumsy butlers and maids of invariable catastrophe. That paranoia was actually making _everyone_ act more cautiously than before.

Issei put the glass to his lips, only to be stopped by the girl.

"Though I understand the need for you to do so, do you not care about the damage you're causing to the servants, who may possibly lose their jobs for things out of their control?"

Issei shrugged. "No."

Sona's eyebrows rose slightly. "No?"

"You can always find another job – not so easy to do the same for another life."

The wine glass reached his lips again and he was stopped.

"That is of course, running on the assumption that the Satan's Theater _does_ get attacked, in which case otherwise, your interference would be rather… cruel."

He shrugged again, and she let go of his wine, letting him take another sip.

Sona stared at him for a while. "Hyoudou-kun, when was the last time you ate? Or drank something that was not an inebriating drink?"

Issei paused halfway in his drink, idly realizing that he had indeed, not eaten anything for a while.

"A couple of days give or take –"

"A couple of –" she stopped, realizing she was displaying more emotion than she normally did, especially in public. "Do not move from this spot Hyoudou-kun, I'll be right back."

Issei watched her leave, craning his neck as his eyes scanned the Gathering.

All around him were devils, all of which contained drinks in their hands, smiling and chattering away, whilst people moved and made idle conversation, most of which Issei could pick up with his ears and found it to be all the more troubling and much more annoying than it was really worth.

"So I heard that Lady Bael's brooch is only worth a few measly millions – how cheap of her –"

"This wine is far too artless for my tastes, only three hundred years old? How insulting –"

"It's a shame Agares-san repels men with such uptight behavior – she'll never find a decent spouse at this point –"

"I heard that the Lucifer is secretly a playboy who enjoys activities with other women when his wife is out on business –"

"I swear it, I saw Mephisto Pheles-sama over there wooing a bartender –"

"Pathetic! To think the Gremory family cut off the engagement with the Phenix family – and got their daughter engaged to a _human_! How much lower could they possibly sink?"

"Serafall has been abducted and the Satans want us to all hold hands and pretend that nothing has happened? How dare they –"

Issei didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt as he made the last two people spill their drinks on themselves with the aid of his Telekinesis, taking great pleasure in listening to their shriek-like cries of dismay.

Then, for good measure, he utilized Telekinesis \+ Larceny, stealing their undergarments right from under their very noses, and watched as their shrieks immediately went silent as they could no doubt feel a breeze where none should be.

They scampered off like lizards with a severed tail, and Issei could feel his satisfaction at a work well done.

There were more important things at hand however.

' _Dil-chan… can you feel it as well?_ '

Telepathy was a skill that he had ensured to add to his Mind Over Matter tree, and one that served him fatefully. And though DLC seemed like a goofy side-kick most of the time, his familiar was also extremely apt at picking out details.

" _Something big is about to happen Master... I can sense the energies of two godly beings in the underworld, they are still far off, but it is best to be careful Master._ "

Issei slowly nodded, carrying another glass of wine, to which he realized, Sona might be on to something, as it was the only thing he had eaten in quite a long while.

The drink filled up in his glass, and Issei gulped down the liquor with slightly relaxed abandon, watching as the world went tipsy from the alcohol, but then never went beyond that limit, and always prevented him from getting drunk.

He also recalled the information he had received not too long ago.

 **Your Blood Clone – "Cloud" has been terminated.**

 **You have gained 89,000 EXP!**

 **You have attained a knowledge of Fuinjutsu Matrices!**

 **You have attained a knowledge of Chakra Natures!**

 **You have gained a new Mind Over Matter skill -** **Astral Projection!**

 **You have gained a new Jashinist Skill!**

 **Heaven Viewing Mirror** **[Active] Lv. 42.**

 **This is a Genjutsu skill which allows the User to project an image of the User's greatest desires, worst fears, or even of their most dull and tedious of activities against the opponent. Likewise, when used in conjunction with Blood Impulse, this has the effect of casting the illusion of the opponent's greatest fantasy or worst fear and rendering them unable to escape from it through normal means.**

"Pulling the wool over my eyes for so long with a genjutsu… abducting Akeno and Koneko and stripping them, before putting them into sexy outfits…"

Issei had a melancholic smile on his face.

"He was the best friend I could have ever asked for."

Strange, how Issei slowly realized it, that he had very little male companions in his life, and that he had no males he could actually call his friends. The closest person he could have given that term to was _technically_ himself.

The Gamer sighed, glancing once more at the ball, where numerous people lay, his eyes spotting male devils who stood at different corners, in their fancy suits and elegant apparel, cooking up some form of conspiracy or the other. Then there were the female devils, with sprayed-on smiles and stripper-princess clothes, easily looking for their next unsuspecting male targets to wound up like a chew toy and set it loose within a den of tigers.

A few women had approached him, and all he had done was blast them with a dose of what he now termed " _Sexual Intent_ ", and they scurried away with red-faces and in desperate need of a change of underwear.

Issei however was about to begin his eyes scanning for Sona, when he overheard footsteps rapidly approaching him, and moreover, the voices and conversation seemed more intriguing than the rest.

"I heard he was over here – come on!"

The voice was male, possessing a rough edge to it, like splintered glass that was sharpened with coarse sandpaper.

"Really Zephyrdor, I believe this shouldn't be necessary –"

The second voice was also male, however, it possessed a more regal sense to it, a form of finesse and tone that indicated both power and humility.

"It's your fault for mentioning it in the first place Sairaorg. You know how one-dimensional his mind is."

The third voice was clearly female, strict, precise, reminding Issei strangely of Sona's own tone, though this one was clearly sharper.

"Hah! That's rich coming from you Seekvaira, – then again, you'd be the expert on one-dimensional things given your body shape."

"That is both inaccurate and obscene, my _body_ is perfect."

"Yeah, perfectly unable to attract attention."

"Seekvaira, Zephyrdor, enough."

They came into view, leaving Issei with the sight of the young lady first, a young woman with long blond hair and pink eyes, possessing a cold sharp gaze. Contrary to what he heard, her body was indeed in amazing shape, however, to Issei's chagrin, what she wore covered up a lot of skin, and left nothing exposed to the eyes.

 **Mecha Enthusiast**

 **Seekvaira Agares Lv. 98**

Issei rose an eyebrow to the weird title, but questioned it no further, instead sizing up the second individual, who was a young man with tanned skin and pointy ears, possessing numerous black magic-like tattoos on his face, with spiky green hair that stood on its end and his pants seemed to jingle and clank with each movement.

 **The Wild Zephyr**

 **Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas Lv. 97**

The third man however, was the one that rapidly gained Issei's interest. With jet-black hair and violet eyes, a tall and muscular build that clearly indicated a rigorous amount of training, and possessing a princely aura around him, was none other than a man he realized was his fiancé's cousin.

 **The Lion King**

 **Sairaorg Bael Lv. 172**

The level gap between Sairaorg and the two companions that followed him was nothing to sneeze at, and Issei knew that the man in front of him was most likely indeed strong.

"The Mighty Red Dragon Emperor – in the flesh," Zephyrdor said with a wide grin, easily exposing some elongated fangs "Is it really you though?"

Issei gave him a blank stare.

"No, I'm just a doppelganger assigned to stand here, drink wine and answer stupid questions."

All of them blinked owlishly at him. Certainly it was not a response they had expected.

Rather than being offended and getting the message to _leave him the hell alone_ , Zephyrdor seemed _impressed_.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he turned to Sairaorg, "See – this is a guy who's got a sense of humor. Unlike you mr. boring cordiality and chastity fangirl over there."

Seekvaira seemed to grow red at the roots. "Why must you insist on assigning such titles to me?"

"Suck it and get laid virgin!"

She threw her hands up in frustration. "Sex is not the answer to everything you Neanderthal!"

"Hold up, hold up – you're _totally_ missing the point. Sex isn't the answer, it's the _question_. Now, _yes_ is the answer," Zephydor snickered "But hey – it's you, so who cares about all that when you've never been asked the question, and you'll never get the answer."

Issei watched, wondering if he was witnessing a traveling comedy act, as the duo seemed to once more indulge themselves into an argument and a battle of wits.

Sairaorg massaged his eyebrows, apparently being used to such things.

"That is enough out of you two, stop squabbling like children." He sighed "Hyoudou Issei was it?"

Issei nodded in confirmation.

"I believe I heard that you were the one getting married to my cousin? I wanted to ask you about –"

Whatever Sairaorg wanted to say was cut short by Zephyrdor.

"Shush before you _bore_ him to death," he grinned "I'm Zephyrdor, though you can call me Zeph. He's Sairaorg, I call him Orgy-kun for short, and it's loads of fun watching him squirm whenever I yell out that nickname in public."

Sairaorg wore a plain look, yet, it was a look which said 'call me that, and they will not find your body.'

"And that's Seekvaira, I call her Seeker or Seeks, because after all this while, she's _still_ searching."

"Searching for whatever deity you sold your intellect to," she muttered aside, "Not that it was worth much. You could potentially sell your soul to multiply your mental wealth a thousand-fold and still be unable to afford paying attention."

Zephyrdor spun on her. "Oi!"

Sairaorg turned to Zephyrdor. "I believe you wanted to meet the Red Dragon Emperor? Well, he stands before you. Now, I need to talk to him of a matter of grave importance –"

"You just want to intimidate the guy who's going to be under your cousin every now and then –"

Sairaorg gave him a sharp look. "Do you _honestly_ need a reminder as to what happens when you run your mouth _too_ much Zephyrdor?"

Issei noticed the sharp change, and gone was the form of two cordial acquaintances and friends, and in place, stood quite possibly, a challenge given by a superior devil to one beneath his station.

Zephyrdor was either completely oblivious, or didn't seem to care.

"Well you might be the strongest young devil in the Underworld, but I've got a bigger dick than you."

The declaration took all the seriousness out of Sairaorg and led to the man gazing once more in irritation.

"That does not deem a response –"

"What're you going to do? Punt me through the wall out of envy? I've got a bigger dick than you Orgy-kun! Hah! Deal with it!"

Sairaorg seemed to clench his fists in annoyance. "That's your defense for everything –"

Zephyrdor wore a triumphant smirk. "Doesn't mean it isn't true."

Issei slowly began moving away from the trio, making sure to be as subtle as possible in his escape.

Seekvaira seemed to be looking more than annoyed at the turn of the conversation. "Do not let this idiot take you down to his level Sairaorg, size doesn't matter –"

Sairaorg Bael actually _sputtered_ in indignation. "It's not even all that big!"

Zephyrdor smirked. "Still bigger than yours."

Issei did not hear the end of the conversation, nor had he any intention of _ever_ hearing the end of the conversation, and instead found himself on the opposite end of the ballroom, as far away as possible from the odd trio.

It was at this point that he eventually spotted Sona, as the young girl approached him with a small plate of numerous snacks in her hand.

"Where have you been Hyoudou-kun?"

Issei opened his mouth, wondering how in the world to answer.

"Sairaorg Bael, Seekvaira Agares, and Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas."

On recognizing the names, Sona's eyes seemed to light up with a bit of small mirth.

"Ah yes… those three are rather… _interesting_ to those who do not know them."

Issei snorted. "That's putting it mildly."

Issei glanced over the plate of snacks, his eyes picking up, that like most of the wine he drank, they possessed neither any positive nor negative enhancement features.

"Thanks." He said, nodding.

"Honestly Hyoudou-kun, how you could forget to _eat_ is beyond even me – and, drop that glass of wine – you have had more than I can even count. It is a miracle you are not overly inebriated at this point."

Issei let out a small apologetic grin. "I can't get drunk."

"Certainly not from a lack of trying."

"Excuse me, Sitri-sama?"

Issei and Sona turned, noticing what seemed to be young black-haired maid approaching slowly. She was certainly wary, and kept looking at the floor as though it would suddenly develop bumps in its path in order to trip her.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Sirzechs Lucifer-sama would like you to join him and the _other_ V. at the assembly room."

Issei let out a small breath. "Finally."

"Tell him we will be right there."

"Er… Sitri-sama…" the waitress/maid seem to fumble with her words, eyeing Issei oddly "He requested for you _specifically_."

The Gamer and his girlfriend gave each other a side glance, both thinking similar things.

Issei's eyes narrowed. "Did he now?"

"I-I'm certain Lucifer-sama means well… but he was very explicit in his order that I should give to Sitri-sama."

Sona seemed slightly conflicted at the choices, before she exhaled in annoyance.

"What in the world did you do to get on Sirzechs' bad side Hyoudou-kun?"

Issei blinked abashedly. "Nothing! I did nothing?"

She gave him a doubtful stare. "Really?"

The gamer slowly rubbed his chin. "Well… except for the fact that I'm getting married to his sister… ignored his wife… and insulted his mother, I don't think he has any real reason to dislike me."

Sona's left eye twitched. "If you were not so smart Hyoudou-kun, I would be tremendously worried as to the state of your sanity."

The maid tripped on seeming mid-air, her adverse paranoia to tripping somehow invoking a self-fulfilling prophesy, leaving her easily falling into Issei's arms, and the Gamer raised his hands go into the air in a gesture of surrender, letting the young woman plop to the ground unceremoniously.

"That wasn't me."

Sona gave him an exasperated look, before shaking her head.

"I am leaving for the meeting Hyoudou-kun, please promise me that you will _not_ cause some sort of incident."

The Gamer gave an innocent smile. "Who? Me? I'll be my usual self Sona."

"That is what worries me Hyoudou-kun; that is what worries me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~

 **Overworld – God Realms**

 **Olympus**

"Midas! There you are, what is this I hear about you –" she stopped halfway, "You – you are bleeding!"

The Goddess Athena frowned as she found the Gold King once more making himself at home in her domain, and despite the copious amount of blood that seemed to be flowing from his arm, he paid no attention to it, instead, his gaze flickered over to a golden spherical ball, eyes scanning over it with a burning passion.

"Pay no heed to my wounds. A small price to pay – it seems that I have underestimated a rather dangerous individual in our little game."

Athena watched as the golden spherical ball began to slowly clear, and a face appeared within it, of a young boy with black hair and twilight glowing eyes, seemingly at a party of some sort.

"A boy?"

"The Red Dragon Emperor. He _needs_ to be terminated with immediate prejudice."

"Artemis is already on that mission, so worry not."

The man seemed to scowl further, before he let his expression fall one into resigned neutrality.

"Now, what is this I hear of you capturing the entirety of the Fallen Angel faction, and the Yokai King? Our goal was to wait for them to surrender the Vampire King –"

Midas spun on her, his fiery eyes showing no room for idle stupidity or questions.

"A goal, which would have ended in futility. They will not surrender and are merely stalling us for time, and you, better than anyone should know that victory has never been associated with long delays."

"Serafall Leviathan still remains our hostage, they have to get her back –"

Midas stood, his hands held together behind his back, as he regarded Athena.

The Gold King turned towards her, causing the woman to flinch at his sight, finding an expression that seemed horrifically out of place on his usual stern features.

 _Contentment_.

"Tell me Athena, what was the reason this conflict started?"

"What? What does this have to do with –"

"It was because Vampires were found in Greece, and entered an altercation with Artemis warriors that led to a massacre on both sides."

Midas' oddly content look faded, turning his expression back into cold stone.

"Now, did you ever stop to _think_ , what were the vampires doing there? What would take a collection of highly trained, elite vampires, out of the Underworld, to _Greece_?"

"What does it matter? Our goal is –"

There was a pungent backhand slap which sent Athena sprawling, her eyes widening in shock, before twisting into anger.

"Y-you _dare_ –"

"The goddess of _wisdom_ , disregarding _reason_?" Midas asked, his face twisted into a sneer.

"Can you see how far you have fallen Athena? How this ridiculous goal of using the War as a front to weaken Zeus and Poseidon, and taking all of Olympus under your charge has made you utterly daft! Do you truly believe you can conquer the Judeo-Christian faction, ruling supreme over heaven and hell, when you can barely stop to _think_?"

"I –"

Midas stared at her with a gaze of disgust. "No longer Athena. I will not let your memory be ruined by this travesty. This goal of yours has been an extremely myopic one which I have sponsored for so long only because I enjoyed the tightness of your loins."

Athena growled at him "You –"

"It ends now, Athena."

Athena could only let her eyes widen in shock, as her own blade which had been sheathed at her side pierced through her chest from behind, directly where her heart was meant to be, as the Gold King regarded her as an insect.

"H-how?"

"Before I was Midas, I was a man known as Rasa. The Fourth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand… and the specialty of my village, was puppetry."

There was a shimmer of air, and behind Athena, appeared a warrior, with twelve wings, cloaked in gold like it had been applied onto him as an external layer of polish, possessing blank emotionless eyes, that held nothing within.

Then, the second warrior appeared, cloaked in gold, with blood red hair, ferocious fangs like scissors and long elongated nails like needles, with ten swinging tails which extended from the tailbone.

Likewise, more creatures appeared, garbed in gold, wielding a variety of weapons which were made from light.

It was an army.

An Army of Golden Puppets.

"I would have made you beautiful Athena, beautiful as I have made them." He moved over to a Golden Fallen Angel, tapping the man on his forehead, and the man instantly bowed.

"I have turned their skeletons and hair to gold and now I control their thoughts and their every movement – it is the penultimate form of Suna puppetry."

"Y-you… b-bastard…" she said through a mouthful of blood "…Do.. y-you have any i-idea what you've done…? W-what you've unleashed by k-killing me…? O-Only I can control… him…!"

Midas made a gesture, and the red-haired figure shoved the sword in deeper, ignoring her cries of pain as the blood of the goddess splashed his face.

"Fool. Do you truly believe only _you_ can control the godslayer? He has been in my pocket the entire time, and as we speak, he has already begun the first strike."

The goddess coughed up more blood, feeling her strength leaving her, and the words of the madman in front of her made very little sense. "W-when I r-return… I will m-make y-you pay…"

"I am the Gold King, Athena," the man said, turning around "Reimbursement has never been an issue."

He snapped his fingers, and the red-haired being obliged.

" **Bijudama.** "

Olympus fell.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Kuoh**

A house lay, smoking and smoldering as debris and burnt pieces of furniture had all but turned it into an unrecognizable mesh. Within it, there was the echo of rumbling, a sound of movement, and eventually, a large couch was forcefully pushed out of the way, leaving a white haired man coughing and sputtering all the way as he emerged from the rubble.

"Cough… fucking motherfucker! That bastard – !" He blinked, staring around him.

"Oi! Bitch-face! Where are you?"

A weird sense entered him as he began pilfering through the debris, clearing through items and scampering about like a rat in a garbage pile.

"Goddamn it bitch-face, if you were going to fucking die, couldn't you have let me have sex with you first?"

Freed frowned, noticing with some strange sense that she was gone. The explosion had sent them both reeling, but it then re-occurred to him that the girl was a _devil_. If she had been resurrected as the piece he assumed she was, a rook, there was no way that explosion should have even so much as grazed her.

So where the fuck was she?

The rogue exorcist stared into the sky, blinking owlishly as it came to his realization that clouds had gathered. That wasn't the only odd thing, no, the other thing that was odd, was the fact that despite a tremendous explosion had just taken out a house, there seemed to be no one coming around to investigate, no firefighters – no nothing.

He approached a particular house, only to blink at the translucent barrier that appeared around it.

"No…"

All at once, Freed's eyes remembered the device that had come rolling into the house.

"No. No."

The lack of people – most likely chased away by a charm which caused normal humans to avoid a particular area, the darkening of the sky on an otherwise normal night and then the containment…

"Nononono! That MOTHERFUCKER is _here?_!"

Freed dashed out, caring little for his state of dress, being shirtless and shoeless and having nothing more than a tarred pair of shorts, he moved across the street, hearing the pounding of blood in his ears, as adrenaline surged like never before in his entire life.

Then, he came to a stop.

There they were, across from each other, the girl, glaring at _him._

"REIJI YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!"

Freed roared, turning the attention of both individuals towards him.

Murayama glanced at him in elation and surprise. "You're alive!" then all at once, his words registered. "You – you know my father?"

"He- he's your father?" Freed said, then he shook his head, and let himself fall into his routine, a series of cackled laughs escaped from him in a manner that knew no restraint.

"Heh, now I don't know if I want to fuck you or kill you."

The man regarded him with an air of hostility. "Murayama – stay back, that man is extremely volatile and dangerous."

The girl seemed at a loss for words. "Y-you know Freed?"

Slowly, and extremely reluctantly, he nodded. "He was… my student."

"S-student? Then –" Murayama's eyes widened, "- he's the one who saved you… the passing exorcist you mentioned?"

Freed grit his teeth. "Yeah. He's the bastard who saved my life… the bastard who taught me everything I know… the same bastard who made me realize that the Vatican spews bullshit, and being an exorcist was only a step up from being a demon."

Reiji Busujima glanced at him with an expression in his eyes akin to pity. "You were never quite _sane_ Freed… understandable given what happened with your parents, however, you have only become worse since defecting."

"And who's fucking fault was it? Huh? Who was the fucking one that made me leave?!"

Murayama stood, amidst the confusion, feeling odd and cold that the psychopath probably had a closer relationship to her own father than she did.

"W-what is he talking about?"

Freed snorted.

"Go on daddy dearest – tell her, tell her the fucking reason I left! Tell her the fucking reason I quit being an exorcist!"

She had never seen her father quite that silent before.

Freed let out a 'tsk' of annoyance, turning to her. "It was simple. A mansion was being haunted – we go in as usual, exorcise the ghosts, and then leave. Just one little problem – the ghosts, I saw them, the fucking ghosts of little children, singing in the fucking walls and asking me, _begging_ me to help them – to save them!"

Reiji looked cold. "They _weren't_ human."

"Of course, because it doesn't fucking matter if a child is molested and killed because the child isn't fucking _human_!"

Murayama's head was spinning. "W-what are you talking about?"

"It's called Hido-Bashida – an ancient ritual of a burying a living human inside the foundation of a building in order to strengthen it and ward off demons." Freed spat, "Of course, the client thought, he couldn't use humans, so he looked for the next best thing, demi-humans, purchasing a group of young elves from young children to teenage girls – and before he used them, he threw a fucking party. A _literal_ fucking party where he had his sick friends defile them in some twisted orgy – robbing them of their will to live – _before_ using them as fucking god-damned cement!"

She held back the bile which threatened to spew from her mouth, turning to her father, expecting some sort of denial or rebuttal of sorts. It never came.

Reiji shook his head. "You butchered every man and woman in that house, every man and woman that had any connection to the act, mass murder of over _sixty_ people – for what, a bunch of _elves_?"

"No, you racist fuck, I butchered them all for a group of _children_!"

"Do you know how long I spent trying to rectify that mistake? Do you know just how influential the people you killed were?"

"Even after all this time sensei, can you fucking hear yourself? You don't care?"

Reiji's voice became strained. "They were elves! Their very existence as demihumans means their people have been used to such level of treatment since ancient times! A couple of their ghosts came back and gave you a guilty conscience, so what? Their lives do not matter in the long run!"

"They. Were. _Children!_ " Freed panted, veins easily bulging at the side of his throat, his fists balled hard enough to draw blood. "Children, asking, no – fucking _begging_ me for justice!"

"What you did wasn't _justice_. It was vengeance."

"And it was the closest they would have ever fucking got."

The atmosphere seemed thickly sprayed with silence.

"Do you care about it? Fuck no, I see you've done good for yourself. Being an exorcist doesn't pay well, fuck, it barely pays at all – and somehow, you're now a fucking multimillionaire and have expanded your clan name. How did you come about that?"

Reiji's eyes narrowed. "I don't have to explain anything to you Freed –"

All at once, it seemed as though lightbulbs lit up in the rogue exorcist's mind. "You – you _didn't_. You took over their jobs – you started _trafficking_ –"

"Do you think I had a _choice?!_ " It was Reiji's turn to roar out in anger "The people you killed answered to someone more powerful than you or I, someone who could turn me to a mere ornament with a touch of his fingers! I have lived the rest of my life since that incident in debt to him, paying for _your_ actions Freed! Do not dare stand there and claim the higher moral ground."

Murayama watched as the area between both men became blanketed in another thick haze of silence, one so deep and piercing, that it seemed as though attempting to break it would be committing a great travesty.

"So that's it? That's fucking it? After all this while, after every fucking thing, you still stand there and tell me, it's okay to turn a blind eye to evil shit as long as we're not getting paid for it?" Freed said, gritting his teeth "That what, despite having the fucking power to change things, we should ignore the fucking scum of the earth, scum like those bastards, scum like my father… because what? _It's none of our fucking business_?"

Reiji Busujima gave him a simple, one word answer.

"Yes."

And Freed Selzen flew into rage. It was a rage that was different from his usual kind, one that was cold, chilling and focused.

The white haired man drew in a sharp breath. "You're dead sensei."

Slowly, Reiji drew his blade.

"It has finally come to this," he turned to his daughter "Murayama, if you wish to return to the Busujima name and reclaim your place as heir, you will assist me in killing my wayward student."

The girl blanched at the thought, before recalling the explosive that had rocked her house earlier.

"Y-you, you tried to kill me –"

"The bomb I detonated was designed specifically to damage humans, you, are now a devil, and would have easily escaped unscathed."

"Murayama –" Freed's voice came out as a low growl, and the girl realized, that this was the first ever time the man had addressed her by her name.

"If you help that lowlife bastard, if you _dare_ help that lowlife bastard – I will kill you, and out of respect for saving my life, I will make it quick and painless."

Murayama clenched her fists, feeling her heart beat rising as the blood began pumping through her veins, glancing on one corner, the man who was related to her by blood, her father, who had been anything but, and the man she would do anything to get into his good graces again. At another corner, lay someone whose moral compass was insanely twisted, someone with whom she had spent time with, someone who had given her a sense of meaning when she had felt lost and forgotten.

It was a hard choice to make, but it was one that she made regardless.

Murayama moved and stood beside her father, biting her lips to hold back whatever weakening elements of moisture that began on to form in her eyes.

Freed Selzen stood across from her, unusually quiet and subdued. "So… you've made your fucking choice."

"I'm s-sorry Freed… but… he's my father."

He vibrated in place. "Yeah, because our _fucking_ parents can never lie to us. Never do us any _fucking_ harm."

"It doesn't have to be this way – you don't have any weapons, you're injured and outnumbered – just… surrender." She croaked. "Please."

A blanketed silence engulfed them.

"I don't surrender," he said. "Not even in the face of fucking Armageddon."

No more words needed to be said.

He knew how little his odds were, and he took a deep breath, a genuine smile for the first time in as long as he could remember gracing his face.

If the last two people he saw in this world were his teacher and his student, he could die a happy man.

He could die a happy man indeed.

And he'd damn well make sure they shared in his happiness.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **And the plot thickens. The Murayama-Freed side plot comes to an end and finally connects with the main one, and of course, Serafall isn't going to just sit around like a bloody disney princess. Then, we have an introduction of Murayama's father, who was mentioned way back in chapter nine, and three devil characters, whose roles may be major or minor, depending on how badly Issei messes things up.**

 **Now, it may seem as though Issei isn't doing much, but that's part of the beauty of this arc. With Kokabiel, Issei was the on the _offensive_ , knowing his opponent and his goal, it made for an easily devastating takedown. With Midas and co, he's playing _defense_ , because the Midas Complex is unreachable through most means, he has no choice but to wait for the enemy to come to _him_.**

 **Oh, and, at the behest of a friend, I joined AO3 with the same username (just with an underscore) and I may upload this fic there as well, just to have a back-up copy in case of anything when I eventually start the lemons.**

 **As always, thank you for reading, and kindly please review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	27. Anomaly II: Set Stage

**My Vacation has begun, and it's gonna be partying in the sun all day long! Hell yeah baby!**

* * *

 **\+ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition +**

 **Chapter 26:**

 **Anomaly II: Set Stage**

* * *

Fuck.

That was a word which Freed Selzen adequately felt had a million and one uses and could properly cross across a million different emotions without ever needing the need to elaborate. Fuck you, fuck it, fuck her, fuck this. All of which, gave rather clear meaning to whatever situation he was in. It was a catch-em all expression, and it was probably only considered a taboo word because people realized just how fucking powerful it was, and as always, the pussies had to condemn it.

Still though, it didn't mean that he wasn't thoroughly fucked.

He stared at Murayama, who had gotten into her own stance, and Reiji, the _fucking_ asshole who had also extended his blade, and then he glanced at himself, unarmed, dressed in nothing but a pair bandages and boxer shorts, still smarting from numerous injuries and would have easily killed any lesser man, and let himself think, think rapidly, and think about how in the world he was going to solve this situation.

All at once, a moment of inspiration struck, as he remembered that bastard who had stunned him by playing nice, and then promptly shoved a shit ton of rotten, disgusting food that tasted worse than the diarrheic shit of a fucking goat down his throat. Then, a lightbulb sprung in his head.

His gaze instantly went behind the duo.

"Fuck, so not only do I have to fight an idiot devil with daddy issues, and a total fucking bastard with a sword shoved eight feet up his ass, now I have to fight a bloody dragon emperor as well?"

"What?" Both Reiji and Murayama had their eyes hit their brows, turning to face their newcomer.

Only to find no one.

' _Suckers_.'

The speed at which he launched from his position towards Reiji would have easily put fully grown cheetahs to shame, not wasting even a second of the brief moment of reprieve he had gotten as he appeared in front of Reiji, his fist reared back.

The ponytailed swordsman turned, seeing the attack, and raising his blade to cut off the offending fist, only for Freed to grin like a maniac.

"FEINT FUCKER!"

The fist never connected, leaving the swordsman surprised, as a foot was instead launched, aimed at a lower location than he could adequately block in time.

Freed Selzen found it oddly satisfying to kick a man in the balls with nothing but his bare feet. It was even more satisfying, watching as Reiji's cocky demeanor melted into one of utter agony as the man let out a small squeak from the undoubtable pain of having his testicles nearly crushed from the force of the attack.

Freed instantly followed up with the groin attack by grabbing the man's head, and slamming it into his raw exposed knee, the sound of cartilage breaking echoing like music to his ears as he slammed it a consecutive second and third time, ignoring the blood that stained his legs.

Expert exorcist or no, the dazed man could do nothing but drop his weapon as blood poured freely from his face, to which Freed wasted no time grabbing with his left hand, spinning with the blade, with all intent of decapitating the man's head in one swift strike.

He cursed as his blade parried with another, the loud clang of metal clashing metal ringing as the only sound in the clearing, leaving him no choice but to cartwheel backwards, frowning as his opportunity to kill his sensei as quickly as he could had gone by.

Now, Freed Selzen stood, with blood flowing down his knees a sword in his left hand, across from Murayama, who had grabbed her own sword in defense of her father, who was on the ground, blood flowing freely from his face an utterly undignified mess as he cradled his ball sac in agony.

And in the span of all but five seconds, he had changed the entire tide of the battle.

"Y-you kicked him in the balls… Why the hell would you do that?"

"I don't have any fucking thing to say to you bitch-face. What were you expecting, that I'd walk up and bow in a fucking kendo stance and request an honorable fight? I thought I taught you fucking better than that."

He noticed as her eyes narrowed, and he shook his head as he let out a 'tsk' of annoyance.

"Maybe I don't know you as well as I fucking thought I did. Shit, I know that I sometimes went overboard with peeping on you in the shower, but fuck it, to think that you would choose to side with that fucker…"

"He. Is. My. Father."

"He's a fucking asshole."

"So what, I should have chosen the psychopath who I've known for all of a week that occasionally makes inappropriate sexual advances, or choose the man I've known for almost seventeen years of my life who brought me into this world?"

Freed's eyes narrowed. "Blood doesn't fucking make one family."

She sighed. "I'm sorry that you have a messed up opinion of what family is Freed, but he's my father, and I have to support him even when he's wrong, and even when he makes mistakes or seems evil… because that is what being family means, supporting each other no matter what."

Freed shook his head. There was no getting through to this bitch, couldn't she see that it wasn't worth it? That Reiji was the type of scum who wouldn't give her as much attention and devotion that he rendered unto her?

The exorcist bit his lower lip. He really didn't want to have to kill her, he was quite fond of her actually, but if left no choice…

Whatever he intended to do was cut short by a silhouette of a tall man that appeared in front of Reiji.

" _Reiji, the Leviathan has escaped and is now lose in the Complex. I am transporting the Complex to your location to bring you back immediately so you can find and detain her."_

"W-w-wait, L-Lord M-Midas –"

The silhouette vanished, and Freed was momentarily blinded by the bright emission of light that followed from the disappearance, having to close his eyes and readjust it multiple times.

When he opened it, he found himself, Murayama and Reiji standing in a large open hall that seemed to be made from actual fucking gold. Rather, it was as though _everything_ around him was made from gold.

Then, there laid boldly on two giant golden statues, was a large banner.

 _The Midas Complex_.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of The Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

Conformity.

This was a trait which referred to the orthodox, to submitting yourself towards a particular known characteristic, and ensuring you maintained there in order to blend in, to be unnoticed, and to be considered as just another sheep in the flock, bleating to the tunes of a stagnant goal.

Issei let his face fall into a well-practiced smile that held no true mirth. He spun the woman in his arms, another one, he idly noted, lacking in desire, ambition, passion, all but a mere toy in his arms, as she performed a split beneath him, and he lifted her into the air, her arms outstretched in a grandiose manner, as their dance ended.

 _Ping!_

 **Thanks to a perk [** **Master Assassin's Grace** **] Dance Mastery has boosted several levels! Dance Mastery has reached Level 70!**

The people in the background clapped as the woman curtsied to him and he bowed in turn to her, watching as she giggled, and eventually chose to leave the main dance floor, where The Gamer had, for a while now, taken the spotlight, finding himself dancing with the higher elites of society.

 _Ping!_

 **You have completed another dance!**

 **Your reputation with the Devil Upper Class has vastly increased!**

 **You have gained 2000 Prestige Points!**

More accurately, he found himself moving his body in rhythm to a bunch of lifeless, droll and utterly annoying sheep. He didn't need the ability to read minds to know what they were thinking, nor did he even desire to shatter their well-patterned conformed beliefs and desires. _Find a rich husband, get a suitable suitor, ensure you impress the men_ … None of them seemed to have a sense of… _deviation_.

Yes, that was it, the opposite was Deviation. Deviation meant letting out a roar of exhilaration as they broke free from their chains of restriction, it meant having off the white essence that marked one as a sheep, then strutting out on all two legs and choosing to roar.

Another woman approached him for a dance, and Issei once more put on a smile and as he lead her, taking her into his arms, as he began to move with the music, she fell paltry in his arms, and Issei felt more like he was dancing with a mop than a living, breathing human being.

It was a shame, deviating from the given norm was a powerful thing that was feared by others, because humans, nay, all supernatural creatures with consciousness, they feared the unknown. That which was new, uncommon, unfamiliar and _different_ , was treated with wary apprehension at best, and outright scorn and terror at worst. Abandoned your job to become a travelling hiker? Drop out of school to chase your dreams of music? The general populace would not like that, no, they would question it, mock it, and then ultimately, despise the deviation. Not because they felt it was inherently wrong, no, but because they possessed the envy in their hearts of being unable to do the same, and the fear of the unknown, overwhelmed their passion for the fantastical.

This time, Issei ended the dance with the young woman held across his arms, in a manner which was intimate, and a manner which, the Gamer felt he truly should have reserved for someone else, not for the girl, with her dark yellow hair who believed to have had a chance with him, unknowing that after their dance, he would forever forget that she existed.

' _Careful partner, your thoughts seem to be going down a sour road these days. You did it didn't you… lifted another one of those 'limiters' on your intellect?_ '

The Gamer shrugged. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and he could handle his moral compass being a little bit twisted if it meant gaining the required knowledge to strategically plan what to do with Midas. Coincidentally, or not so much, in return for now using 35% of his full intellect, his Telekinesis skill had gotten a major amp, hitting level 40, and his control over darkness and shadows had gotten sharper, more precise, and possessed more strength than ever before. He could now create solid blades of shadows, and go so far as create shadowy apparitions of beasts.

" _Totally worth it now that I can lift people with my mind and create Shadow Dragons... what do you think of making a giant shadow dragon replica of you? Or even better yet still, I've been considering finding a way to unseal you from the Boosted Gear."_

' _As tempting as that offer is, do you not possess several more pressing issues to deal with at the moment?_ ' the dragon sounded annoyed.

" _What do you mean?"_

' _You know where Midas is, you have the power to stop him, to rescue the Leviathan and be the hero of the day… and what in the world are you doing? Drinking wine? Juvenile pranking? Dancing away the day? What in heaven's name are you planning?"_

Issei shook his head, letting a small smile grace his features.

" _I've been waiting._ "

The dragon faltered, ' _Waiting for what?_ '

" _The right moment to strike Ddraig. The best time to hunt one's prey, is when that prey seeks its_ own _prey."_

Ddraig paused. ' _You_ want _the invasion to happen? Why?_ '

" _The King is least protected when his Generals are at the other end of the board."_

Ddraig gave out a slow, growling hum. ' _So that's what you've been planning? But what of the mass carnage that will ensue during the fight? Midas has control of the Fallen Angels hence they will be fighting against their own will, till their last breaths, and the devils who are fighting back will either not know this or they will not care. The Fallen Angels will die, one after the other, because it would be impossible and far too risky to merely incapacitate them in the heat of battle.'_

" _You underestimate me Ddraig. With my vast skill set, do you really think I didn't plan for that? No. I_ do _have a plan, and haven't just been dancing for the fun of it…"_

' _And what is this great plan of yours to stop the Fallen Angels from being slaughtered like docile lambs?_ '

Issei grinned. " _You'll see."_

The Gamer let out a small breath of air as the clapping resumed as the woman left, and Issei found himself bowing, and gesturing to the crowd, as though asking who else was willing to dance with him.

"I would kindly take you up on that offer, Hyoudou Issei."

He turned his gaze, and almost let out a sharp breath as he found the woman who approached him. Luscious brown hair which was once long, but had now been cut into a manner that seemed to make the woman appear much younger once more, but yet, also cement the difference between herself and her daughter.

She was garbed in a sleeveless, backless, gown that was red, ending directly at her knees with a black frilly pattern, and likewise black long gloves were on her hands, ending at her shoulders.

Notably, the woman's daughter was present beside her, wearing a gown very much similar to her mothers, but with it being shorter, ending slightly above her thighs, and the color being black instead, and lacking in any frilly designs.

Rias seemed to catch his eye, and he gave her a wink, that seemed to turn her face to the same color of her hair.

"Very well, a dance with my mother-in-law to be, who am I to refuse?"

The woman walked forward, curtsied, and he bowed, and he took her into his arms, holding her hands in a manner that he had now become so accustomed to it was almost second manner, with their bodies being pressed so close together, a thin slice of paper could be firmly placed in-between them.

The music began, and Issei moved to the rhythm.

"If I didn't know any better Hyoudou, I'd say that the only reason you're here, _dancing_ of all things, is because you have some scheme conjured up."

Issei spun her in his arms, according to the beat, and she matched him perfectly, spinning back into him.

"And If _I_ didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to steal your daughter's fiancé right from under her nose."

She followed his steps, their footwork being so identical, it could easily be believed that they had practiced together for years.

"You severely overestimate yourself Hyoudou. Despite your undeniable sexual allure, I am afraid I cannot fulfill whatever MILF fantasies you have in your head."

Issei let a smirk come onto his face as he switched his pace, moving to a more relaxed one that required him putting an arm on Venelana's waist.

"That's a shame, and here I was hoping you were the cougar I've been looking for."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, moving slowly to his pace, and it was interesting to note the mirth in her eyes, clearly depicting that her banter was all in joviality.

"Really Hyoudou? You'd select me over my daughter? A married, wrinkled old woman like myself over a young, beautiful, talented –"

" – Naïve, stubborn and inexperienced girl, though she seems to be getting better. But... If Rias were a bit more like you, then I'd probably be madly obsessed with her."

Venelana snorted. "Come now Hyoudou, I think we've taken this jest a bit too far if you're now making such blatant lies."

Their bodies were pressed close, very close, and Issei could feel the full might of Venelana's breasts against him, all of which he ensured not to focus on as they danced.

"I don't need to lie. It's a fact that I can state easily."

The woman's eyebrow rose.

"You- you are serious." She shook her head in a manner that fell into a grandiose sway, seemingly adding to the dance. "I am flattered Hyoudou, but I believe not too long ago, you utterly despised me and the way in which I do things."

Rather than answer directly, Issei averted his eyes and changed the topic.

"I'm sorry about your hair… I didn't mean to cut it so short, but I see you've grown it back."

She let out a dignified giggle. "Worry not, it is a mere accessory, though my husband Zeoticus overreacted and made it seem like it was the end of the world – and I wasn't born yesterday Hyoudou, I know a diversion when I see one."

"You _are_ an amazing woman Venelana. Is it so hard to believe I respect you?"

The woman seemed stilled for a moment, and Issei had to hand it to her that her body was able to keep dancing fluently even though her mind was stalled.

Then all at once, something seemed to click and she possessed a brilliant smile.

"I must say Hyoudou I am impressed."

Issei rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"The closeness of our bodies, falling into perfect sync, your aura of openness and humility, a backhanded hint here and there, and then what seemed to be a genuine apology and complement. I never took you for someone well versed in the act of seduction."

Issei let out a small frown as he watched her bar on the Dating Mode which was slowly reaching green begin to rapidly drop.

"Your technique of seduction is so subtle I did not even realize I was being fooled, and for a minute I actually _believed_ you were attracted to me. I could _feel_ myself getting strongly aroused by your touch and presence. How… interesting."

In the end, their dance came to a stop, as Issei held Venelana by the waist as her body was exactly perpendicular to the ground, her arms out in the expression of a magnificent swan, and the resounding applause was one that stunned both dancers.

Issei and Venelana stared, realizing that they had both been so wrapped up in their conversation, they did not realize that their dance had been something utterly sensational and intimate, that made it seem like they were more than just a boy and his mother-in-law to-be.

Issei's eyes glanced over to Rias, and to his utmost surprise, was that… _jealousy_ he could see in her eyes?

Venelana was an… _interesting_ woman no doubt. She was strong, she was powerful, and she was extremely cunning and dangerous. Though, admittedly, Issei did not see eye-to-eye with Rias' mother, even he could not deny the potential benefits of having her as an ally, even if just for the imposing threat of Midas.

Of course, the woman was the type of person who did not just do things for others out of the goodness of her heart, or for free… so Issei had been hoping on making _her_ think that _he_ was the one doing her a favor by subtly seducing her. Unfortunately, she was far more observant than he gave her credit for.

He of course had absolutely _no_ romantic inclination towards her. Not even in the slightest.

"Though I must ask Hyoudou, what could you possibly need from me urgent enough to go through the trouble of attempting a seduction?"

Issei gave her the straightest look imaginable, before managing a smile. "How would you like to be a devil that slays gods?"

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~

 **Meeting Chambers**

She was alone, in the midst of some of the most powerful beings in the world, and she felt like a kindergartner on her first day of school. The choker felt overwhelmingly tight on her throat, as though she was constantly being subdued, and she could not wash off the feeling of being out of place, like the only fruit bowl on a tray of carnivorous meat.

She didn't show her apprehension of course, rather, her emotion was as chiseled as stone, perfectly and utterly impeccable, not a trace of fear to be detected.

The room was strangely cold, with the Vampire King sitting at his corner away from the windows, and with Ajuka and Sirzechs at another corner, Grayfia, as always, stood behind her husband, and the last person to have arrived in the room, was the Commander-General of the Grigori, Azazel.

Sona's eyes landed on him, and it took every fiber of her being to refrain from pointing at the man and yelling. Issei had told her, that every member of the Grigori was being controlled by the man known as Midas, none of which made sense to her, but going off on an accusation based on Issei's words alone would not be the wisest choice of action.

So she reigned herself in, and did not once let her eyes stray from the man.

"Sorry I'm late, I had some things to deal with before I came."

Her eyes made contact with Ajuka, and the devil seemed to get her subtle message, it seemed that he had also noticed something odd about Azazel, but he said nothing and gestured towards her to likewise do the same.

" _Yo, Sona! Do you read me?"_

It took her every last inch of self-control in her being not to suddenly flinch at the voice in her head, and merely let her eyes crinkle in hidden annoyance behind her spectacles. He had told her about gaining a Telepathy skill… but really, one was never quite ready to suddenly hear someone else's voice inside their head.

" _Yes Hyoudou-kun."_

" _Don't worry, this skill only allows us to communicate telepathically, so I can't read your mind or see all the kinky thoughts you have about me. That's quite a shame."_

Sona mentally rolled her eyes, wondering for a brief second how it was even possible.

" _Kinky thoughts Hyoudou-kun? Really?"_

" _Well I for one have them. Oh, by the way, I upgraded the Serpentine Sucker, or the S.S. so it shouldn't malfunction when you activate it."_

The reminder of the extremely lewd looking choker on her neck made heat rise to her neck, as she tentatively swallowed, ignoring the fact that any time she did the act of passing anything down her throat, small waves of pleasure would ricochet down her spine.

" _And when exactly where you going to tell me about its secondary functionalities? With this thing on, I can hold my breath for over three hours._ Three _hours Hyoudou-kun. What kind of activities, sexual or otherwise would ever require me holding my breath for that long?"_

" _Uh… hopefully the fun kind?_ "

She mentally sighed, before turning back to business. _"Hyoudou-kun, I should warn you now that Azazel is currently here at the meeting, if you are correct, then he is under some sort of mind control spell."_

She could hear the sound of excitement.

" _Perfect. It's time for me to advance with the plan._ "

" _What? You intend to breach the Midas Complex? I thought you said you were unable to –"_

" _I did. Or at least I thought I did. Lucky for me, I found a little loophole I can exploit…"_

Before she could question it, the communication was suddenly cut short, and Sona found herself wondering just what exactly he meant by that. Her attention spun back unto the meeting, and she wondered what exactly she had missed, only to realize that it looked as though they were about getting started.

She blinked, and realized that her entire conversation with Issei in her mind had actually passed in less than three seconds, which left for insane ramifications, especially considering just how useful such instantaneous forms of communication would be on a battlefield.

It was almost like the Gamer's thoughts were accelerated somehow, and this carried over to when he utilized Telepathy.

"No need to apologize Azazel-sama," Sirzechs said, as always, being the most courteous one in the room "Now that everyone has arrived, I can hereby call this meeting into session."

Alucard as well gave a subtle, wary glance to Azazel, but it was so brief that it might as well not have even existed. "And what was the point of this farce Sirzechs? Why have the meeting in the guise of a ball?"

Sirzechs simply smiled. "Nearly all of the strongest devils in the underworld are currently below us and above us. If this does not serve as a deterrent to prevent any form of interruption, I do not know what will."

Sona resisted the urge to sigh. Sirzechs just loved to tempt fate.

The Vampire King let out a nonchalant shrug, placing his feet up on the table as his hat and glasses obscured his eyes.

"Judging by the fact that Michael isn't here… I take it that he was against the idea of going to war with the Greek Faction?"

Sona rose an eyebrow.

"Straight to business I see."

Sirzechs and Ajuka glanced at each other, before Sirzechs coughed into his hands.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple… Michael brought up a very valid question, which still stands as the reason why he is not here, and why we cannot make any rash action, and have yet to attack the Greeks and retake the Leviathan."

"A valid question you say?"

Ajuka nodded. "This conflict between your faction and the Greeks has escalated into something out of control… however, for us to make plans of the future, we must first have a clear understanding of our past."

Alucard scoffed. "And what exactly is that fortune-cookie nonsense supposed to mean?"

Sona swallowed, wondering for several seconds what in the world she was doing in such a meeting, as it had barely begun and the atmosphere had reached boiling point.

"What it means Alucard-sama," Sirzechs said, "Is that this all began because your vampires were found in Greece, and the following altercation led to the death of several of Artemis' warriors and multiple of your own."

The Vampire King looked as though he had trigger fingers. "And?"

"The question still stands Alucard-sama, what were you doing in Greece?"

If one were to take a knife, they would be able to slice through the tension as though it were a physical force, as Alucard seemed to be about to refuse giving them a response for several seconds, leaving the room trapped in a deathly silence that could not even be broken by the sound of heartbeats.

After a while, the Vampire King seemed to relent, crossing his arms, as he the words came out like coal.

"I was hunting down an Incarnation."

There was a collective recognition in the room, one which Sona was unable to share in, having absolutely no idea as to what the powerful being was even talking about.

"But before I go into detail about which _one_ , we might as well mention the elephant in the room."

Slowly, his left index finger with a stunning sharp nail pointed straight at Azazel.

The tension in the room multiplied.

"Just how stupid does Midas think we are?"

'Azazel' smirked.

"Stupid enough."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **The Midas Complex**

Golden doors, and golden streets, golden floors and golden seats, these alone could be used to classify the building that was known as the Midas Complex, as though it housed a shopping center and galleria, those areas remained utterly empty, as though they had been reaped of their presence.

In the central room, a large army stood, side by side, dauntless, peerless, of men and of women, and of those old enough to so much as wield a sword in their hands without dropping it. This army, shoulder-to-shoulder, neither spoke, nor did they feel, nor did they seem to have a will of their own, rather, they were more like action figures collected and abandoned by a child who had grown into adolescence, and each of them moved with the collective-mind of hive.

The army consisted of beings, all with their numerous black wings, fanned out as they seemed to be awaiting a form of order, ranked from the most effective soldiers at the back, to what was deemed as cannon fodder in the front, as they would be the first to collapse when the fighting began, serving no other purpose but to exhaust the energy of their opponents.

It was however odd, when one of the members at the very front lines, seemed to move, of their own accord, separating from the pack, and heading towards a direction that was obscured from view. Several others noticed this oddity, but could do nothing about it, nor did they feel the need to interfere. The nail which stuck out would eventually be hammered back down, and the fool would soon realize it.

The Fallen Angel, feminine and with an alluring figure that could certainly make men weak at the knees as they would wish to ravage her flesh, moved into a discreet location, more aptly, a male restroom. Upon reaching there however, the figure blinked, wondering why she had gone there, and why she was not lining up in service to Midas-sama, only for her to turn, and from within her own shadow, a man appeared, crawling out of the darkness like a virulent cross between a reaper and a ghoul, before he came into full view. His black hair and twilight eyes giving him a mysterious allure, as his eyes crinkled into amusement, and he dusted the Chinese-styled suit, he craned his neck, before giving her a smile.

"Hello Raynare."

"Intrud-"

Whatever she wanted to say was cut short, as the man had descended upon her with a virulent passion, his hand covered her mouth, and his vibrant twilight eyes caught her own dull lifeless ones, making him grin. She tried to move, only to found herself being held down by an invisible force, as though the man was keeping her from struggling with nothing more than his own mind.

"I didn't go through all the trouble of finally getting into this place just to be caught so easily. Now… let's see what Midas did that makes you all so obedient. Observe."

She felt exposed, as though she was being violated on some deep instinctual level, yet all he was doing was gazing at her with his eyes focused, and then eventually, he seemed to have let out a small indiscriminate hum.

"So… a mind control jutsu and your skeleton is now made from gold. I don't even know _how_ that's biologically possible without killing you outright, and I honestly don't want to find out."

She watched as the man shook his head, letting out what seemed to be a small sigh of annoyance, before eventually he gazed at her and steeled his eyes.

"You probably can't tell me much with that jutsu messing your head, so I'm going to get rid of that first… the experience can be rather… _profound_."

The strange boy placed his suddenly warm and glowing hands over her head, and then let out a soft breath.

"Kami's Fingers."

The sensation which rocked her body was akin to a thousand miniature thunderbolts striking her nerves in a manner that brought an untold level of pure stupor. It felt as though someone had taken her brain and then coated it with honey, before letting the greatest masseurs to ever live begin to work on it with all the accuracy of a veteran neurosurgeon. It was like her entire mind had become a lightning rod, and his fingers distributed the volts back and forth in a manner that seemed to form into a symphonious melody and she couldn't help but shake and shudder in a manner that defied all forms of decency.

She could _feel_ her thoughts, her _consciousness_ being caressed, being cosseted, and it drove her to higher heights of stimulation, until her pleasure peaked, and soon reached higher and higher and higher –

Until it came to a sudden abrupt end.

When he was done, he tapped her on the head as she panted and gasped, and he gave her a warm smile.

"So –"

Her first immediate response was to punch him in the stomach.

"Yeah, I think you're back."

She recoiled from the hit, wondering if he was made from steel as he barely even looked fazed.

"Again you used that lewd technique on me... you could have had the decency to use it on my body, but now, it feels as though you've made love to my mind…"

She tried to shake of the daze that came with suddenly regaining control over her mental faculties… his touch was like goddamned fire and ice all at the same time… for heaven's sake how does one even have an orgasm of the mind?

He managed to give a non-committal grunt. "Maybe when this is all over, I'll make sure your body doesn't feel left out."

She snorted, thinking him to be joking, before she gave him a once over. The boy, Hyoudou Issei, had changed. Last she had seen him was in a destroyed church filled with unconscious exorcists, but there had been less… depth to him, the boy who stood here was the same person, yet at the same time, he wasn't.

"You've grown."

He grinned. "I suppose I could say the same for you. Were your thighs always this –"

"And at the same time you've remained the exact same." She shook her head. "A pervert to the end."

She watched as he shrugged, not denying the allegation, before he seemingly brought out a small object from his pocket. The 'object' turned out to be a person, a small slime-girl like creature, which she assumed was the boy's familiar.

"Dil-chan, you know what to do. Search the entire building for Serafall or the Yokai King's daughter. Go."

"Hai Master!"

Raynare watched as the slime-girl morphed into liquid form, leaping into the air before entering into one of the many faucets and vanishing without a trace.

"That is… a rather versatile familiar."

Whatever he was about to say was cut abruptly short, as his eyes snapped up to the door, and he roughly grabbed her by the arm. In a matter of seconds, they were pressed up against a stall, and he motioned for her to be quiet, which she did.

There was very little distance between their bodies, and all at once, Raynare found it difficult to breath.

The door was swung open, and though she could not see the people who walked in, she could hear them full well.

"Damn, this whole place is going haywire, with that white haired exorcist bastard who's been turning guards into confetti, I gotta take this piss, who knows if it'll be the last one."

The voice was rough, and Raynare could hear the heavy thumps of a boot as the man moved in. White haired exorcist? Why did that sound so familiar?

"You tellin' me. And if that guy wasn't enough, we've got a Satan crushing people with tidal waves. I mean, how the hell did that scrawny magical girl escape? Sure she's the Leviathan and all that, but I heard the cage was 'spose to be foolproof!"

The second voice had a more local tone to it, and instantly, Raynare could recognize them as the Guards of the Midas Complex, spirits bound to the place for the express purpose of guarding it.

"The only thing that was found in her cage was a ton of blood and a hand."

Raynare's eyes widened in surprise at that, and though she could not see his face, she was certain that Issei had also been surprised by the declaration.

"She ripped off her own damn hand to escape?" the guard let out a low whistle "Damn, if that bitch ain't more hardcore than I thought. You never woulda guessed her 'capable of somethin' like that with how she looks."

"Just goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover. Come on, let's go find her, Reiji-sama says that she can't have gotten too far with all the blood she lost."

Raynare watched as Issei motioned once to her to be very quiet, before winking. The boy in a brief move, stepped out of the stall door and closed it.

"Oi! Who the hell are you?!"

"An intruder!"

Raynare would never forget the subsequent sound of muffled cries, bone snaps, and dull, silent echoes of fists. The sound of the scuffle barely lasted five seconds, and by the time it was done, she warily peaked out through the stall, watching as the dark-haired teen dusted his hands over the two unconscious (she assumed) bodies of the guards.

"And that's for kicking me out the last time I was here. Douchebags."

She rose an eyebrow at the comment, he had been at the Midas Complex before? Still she didn't question it, instead, she let herself give a small sigh of exertion.

Her brief moment of reprieve was cut short once a blaring alarm began to ring throughout the entirety of the complex, like the high screeched whine of a fire engine, and the teen spun on her, his eyes asking the question that his lips did not.

Raynare moved outside the restroom, watching the Army of Fallen Angels about to begin their charge, a large portal appearing before them.

"The attack has already begun. They are going to march on and –"

"OI YOU MOTHERFUCKING SONS OF BITCHES!"

Raynare turned, staring as a bandaged, heavily panting white-haired man covered in blood stood in front of the portal, waving a sword in his hand.

"I don't know what the fucking hell is going on, and frankly, I don't give two shits. All I know is, I'll cleave through every last one of you cocksuckers if you don't tell me where Reiji is!"

Her jaw slowly dropped at the sheer audacity. "Freed?!"

The man seemed to pick her out, before pointing at her "Ray Ray – nice meeting you here. Oh, and fuck me, if it isn't the Crapomancer, got any more magically appearing plates of utter bullshit to shove down my throat?"

Raynare glanced between Freed and Issei, and then glanced back to the army who seemed to be as confused as she was.

At least, for all of fifteen seconds before one of the Fallen Angels tossed a light spear at Freed, and the man caught it with his bare hand, a slow, creepy-as-a-serial-killer smile starting to spread on his face.

"Oh you poor stupid fucker."

Pandemonium ensued.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Satan's Theater**

Sona Sitri did not like snakes.

It was ironic, she noted, given the connection between the Sitri clan and the great serpents, and even more so considering that her sister had the title of _leviathan_ , which was, as per the myth would entail, a giant water serpent. Regardless of this, Sona found herself annoyed when faced with a serpentine creature that confronted her, especially when said creature was known in myths for its ridiculous difficulty in effectively putting down.

She had been blasted out of the meeting chambers by a surge of energy way out of her current league, barely having enough time to properly shield herself from sustaining critical damage, only to stare at the theater which had been turned into a stadium depicting utter chaos and carnage. The entire building shook like a leaf in the wind, flashes of light and darkness swam everywhere as the devils were in no way afraid to put up a fight against the invading swarm of monsters, and overall, the incessant deafening chatter of conflict, echoed like the background music of a highly trained orchestra.

In the distance, she noted that Alucard and the Satans were in a locked stalemate with Azazel and two other gods that took her mere seconds to identify as Apollo and Artemis. She spun her eyes to other areas, noting Tsubasa Yura and Koneko fighting off a giant Chimera, and elsewhere, Rias and Akeno seemed to be holding off a manticore.

' _First wave… consists primarily of mythological beasts. No Fallen Angels spotted, so I assume Hyoudou-kun must have been able to stop their advance._ '

Keen instinct and reflexes enabled her to backflip out of the way of a vicious lunge by the giant multiple headed serpent, as the spot on which she stood earlier was crushed instantly by the weight, her eyes narrowed as she regarded the beast.

The large dynamic creature that dwarfed her, complete with multiple sets of heads, each one hissing virulently, as its pitch black scales seemed to be illuminated by the lighting of the ballroom, causing Sona to sigh at the somewhat ironic nature of her having to be the one to take out the Hydra.

One of the heads of the massive creature lunged forth, and she found herself dodging to the side in a swift roll, only to be buffeted by debris, and she growled in irritation as she noticed her outfit tear.

Granted, it was never meant for combat situations, but she really did not want to end this fight in nothing but her undergarments.

Two more of the serpent's head streaked forth, following a literal serpentine manner as they intended to catch her, only for her to leap over the first, landing on its head as she evaded the second, in a dodge that would have easily won most professional limbo contests.

Only for a deep portion of the back of the outfit to rip, making the top fall off and leaving her standing in her brassiere.

Her left eye twitched in annoyance. She really needed to get herself some battle armor. Letting out a small sigh, she contemplated the numerous possible ways for her to take out the beast that _wouldn't_ result in it becoming more troublesome to fight, as she knew the myths, and she knew that cutting off a head would only result in two more growing back, so she needed to take it out in one swift and vicious attack.

Of course, the Carnal Armament that Issei had designed for her _would_ have been suitable for the job, but she was saving it as a last resort, and it had nothing to do whatsoever with how lewd or embarrassing the tool was.

Instead, she focused on her magical prowess, summoning a large torrent of water in front of her, closing her eyes as the Sitri crest glowed and she focused on making the water sharper, thinner, and more precise. Then all at once, she lunged it skywards.

" **Bladed Rain**."

The results were instantaneous, the droplets of water descended down in the manner one would expect from a meteor shower, each one possessing the force of a hammer and the sharpness of a sword, they cut through the serpent with relative ease, severing the heads at once, and going even further, slicing up the entire beast into smaller and smaller pieces, like a master chef would easily dice vegetables.

She turned, dusting off herself as she felt satisfied at a work well done, only for it to rain on her parade, quite _literally_ , as she was immediately drenched in dark liquid that took almost no time for her to realize was the blood of the Hydra.

She would be spending several agonizing hours in the bathroom later.

"Mmmm… I didn't think a mythical serpent would taste this good."

Sona froze, as one second, she was alone, the very next, there was an effeminate looking boy directly in front of her, licking the blood of the serpent off her cheek.

She recognized the Dhampire instantly, leaping back as a magical crest appeared directly in front of her.

"Mou, mou, how mean, I was just trying to be friendly."

Her eyes didn't stray from him at all. "What do you want from me Dhampire?"

The boy smiled, before sighing. "Hyoudou-kun would be sad if anything happened to you, and I can't aid Alucard-sama against a battle with gods, so I thought I would give you a hand."

"I do not require your assist –"

She had barely completed the sentence before she found herself at the other end of the utterly wrecked room, blinking in confusion only to note that the spot in which she previously stood was now a large, smoking area.

" – ance."

The man that approached was bald, possessing ashy white skin and covered with red tattoos, and Sona instantly remembered where she had seen him before, as it was hard to forget the face and haunting weapons that that had been seared into her mind and gave her numerous sleeping nights.

The Godslayer, Kratos.

"Mou, you might want reconsider that hebi-hime."

She wanted to say that she wasn't fighting him, that she would leave Kratos to an opponent much closer to his own skill level, but then she noticed what the Godslayer was doing. Either the being did not know the difference between ally and friend, or he did not care, as he was attacking _everyone_ , and _everything_ that so much as moved, without being discriminate to it.

Then, she noticed him heading in the general direction of Rias and Akeno.

Her choker burned to life and she found her body moving before her mind could catch up.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~ DxD: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **The Midas Complex**

There was something beautiful about planning which Hyoudou Issei had grown to love. Whenever things went according to plan, it was brilliant, but whenever there were unforeseen circumstances that somehow still aided in making things go according to plan, well, it was even better. Of course, taking advantage of it and making it seem like it was all his intention all along was just one of the perks, but not even he could admit ever expecting to meet Freed Selzen in the Midas Complex of all places.

"Come on you lazy crow winged fucks! You think you can take me down? Do you have any idea as to how many nameless fucking mooks I've killed in my lifetime? Do you?"

Issei shook his head, watching as Freed moved through the Fallen Angels like a hot-knife through butter. It was almost sad, watching how the man brutally beat through the charging horde, though Issei knew that the only reason this was possible was because the Fallen Angels in question were not actually moving of their own free will, and the puppet master was not as apt as controlling them and knowing their strengths as the beings themselves would no doubt be. Raynare had found the sight so pitiful that she had eventually left, wandered off to be saved the shame of witnessing what was essentially an utter demolition of her race by a man she barely respected.

He momentarily contemplated leaving Freed to his business, but decided against it, instead, glancing over the large massive crowd, he placed his hands together and activated his technique, watching as his chakra bar drained from the sheer amount he was pumping into it.

"Sleep."

One by one, the Fallen Angels lost their consciousness, dropping to the ground unceremoniously, and Issei struggled with the technique against some of the tougher Angels that had more than two sets of wings, but they all ultimately collapsed.

Freed spun to him upon noticing that he was the cause of the sudden large room of sleeping Fallen. "Oi! What the hell, I needed these fuckers awake so they can tell me where the fuck Reiji is!"

Issei rose an eyebrow. "Reiji Busujima?"

"Yeah! Fucking coward scampered off with bitch-face the second we landed in this place – wherever the fuck this is."

The Gamer shook his head. "You're not going to find him questioning them, they're just puppets. We need to search the entire building if we want to find where they are."

Freed snorted. "Fuck that! I don't have time to play cat-and-mouse. I've got a better idea!"

The sword in his hand began to glow an ominous red color. "I'll blow this entire fucking place to kingdom come, until there's nowhere left for the fucker to hide!"

"And bring down the entire building on our heads? Great plan."

Freed frowned, his sword losing its red glow as he let out a 'tsk' of annoyance. "So what now?"

"Now we –"

 **DANGER DETECTED!**

The Gamer's eyes widened.

"MOVE!"

He used his Telekinetic abilities to send Freed flying away as far as possible, before likewise springing as far back as possible with Dodge, and instantly retreating into the Shadow Realm.

The location in which he previously stood instantaneously erupted into a massive, gargantuan fireball that would no doubt have utterly turned him to ash.

The Gamer let out a small sigh of relief, only for him to hear a cold chilling voice from behind.

" **We meet at last** …" The Gamer almost detached himself from reality as he watched a phantom face of what felt like _pure_ chakra appear " _ **Hyoudou Issei**_ _!_ "

 **-4360 HP!**

The face morphed into a fist, delivering a massive gut wrenching punch to the gamer's spine, and Issei found himself lunged _out of the Shadows_ , tumbling head over heels as he smashed through a series of walls, sending spittle flying out of his mouth as he finally came to a stop.

The Gamer coughed as he waved away the massive cloud of dust, feeling eternally grateful for the Master Steel Skin perk, for he knew that if it weren't for that particular ability, he would have most likely died from the first punch alone.

Then there was the chilling realization that his opponent could somehow still reach him while in the shadow realm.

The Gamer didn't have time to dwell on it, as he heard a shout follow from the dust.

" **Fire Release: Grand Fire Annihilation**. "

Saying that Issei dodged would be a gross understatement. The Gamer all but _scrambled_ out of the way, and even then, his eyes widened at the sheer size of the wall of fire that was approaching. It was more reminiscent of a Tsunami, a large, flaming tsunami that was razing anything and everything in its path.

Dodging was all but futile.

It was a massive area of effect attack with a range far capable of what Issei was able of avoiding without taking some serious backlash either-way.

So with that thought in mind, the Gamer stood his ground, and stared down the massive wall of flame.

" _LARCENY!_ "

The Gamer opened up his inventory before creating a massive wall of it directly in front of him, and then, he activated his ability.

"GRRAAAAAAAHH!" With a roar of effort, the tsunami of flame converged on a single focal point, and began sucking itself into Issei's inventory, twisting, turning, and become a horizontal spiraling conflagration. The heat seared away at Issei's clothes, and within seconds, his entire shirt had burned off, but the Gamer ignored it in favor of sucking in the wall of flame.

With a vicious hiss, the flames let out a final roar of dismay, before it vanished, leaving a large, smoldering patch of black, molten earth, over a hundred feet long in its wake.

The Midas Complex now easily mirrored a war zone.

 _Ping!_

 **You have gained a Fire Affinity!**

 **Larceny has gone up by five!**

Issei panted, letting out a curse as he fell backwards on his butt. The Renaissance Man perk made sure that non-combat skills didn't cost MP, but yet, he felt drained from absorbing what was essentially a forest-fire all on his own.

 _Clap._

 _Clap._

 _Clap._

The Gamer sprung to his feet, instantly calling upon his Boosted Gear on sheer instinct. The last time he had heard such sarcastic clapping was from Kokabiel, now, he had come to associate it with extremely dangerous characters.

 **You have been boosted to Level 300!**

" **That's the first time I've seen you do that. Absorbing Fire into your Inventory**."

The man who walked out of the smoke had blood red hair, and for a minute Issei thought he was fighting Sirzechs, until he realized that this man's blood hair was let down in a spiky, banged mess, his facial features were rugged, his eyes were a combination of a vertical slit and a horizontal bar, his fingernails were sharpened to the length of blades. If Issei didn't know any better, he would have confused the man in front of him for Naruto, giving how the face was almost identical, but he didn't make that mistake due to the clear, _ten_ swinging fox-like tails that were visible on the figure.

And of course the _titles_ and name above his head also gave it away.

 **The Last Biju**

 **King of Yokai**

 **Kurama Lv. ?**

Issei blinked. Hidan's memories about Biju resurfacing… he knew that the Pagan Priest had fought against the two tails, but, what he knew of the tailed beasts where that, they were, well, _tailed beasts_. Then again, several thousand years was enough to change things.

Then there was the fact that Kurama had ten tails. Issei knew his mythology well, and the tails weren't supposed to go past nine. That probably explained why the man in front of him was called the Yokai King.

"Now that you've calmed the hell down," Issei said with a cough, "Listen to me! You're being controlled by Midas, I can help –"

The roar that followed and the resulting shockwave sent Issei's eyes wide as his hair flew back.

" **Please, as though that moronic imbecile who thinks himself a god-king could ever control me. I am stronger than your pitiful Great Red and Dragon God of Infinity** _ **combined**_ **.** "

Issei swallowed. "T-then why are you attacking me?!"

The being's eyes glowed, an image of multiple rings and nine-tomoe super-imposing over it for a brief second.

" **I can feel his shackles which are no more than bug bites against me.** **I only made him believe that I am under his control because he has my daughter in a location I cannot reach, and I would kill** _ **anyone**_ **, to get her back**."

And then all at once, there was a _massive_ pressure that was released and Issei fell flat on the ground, as though gravity had been quadrupled.

 **You have been boosted to Level 600!**

' _Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'_ Issei swore as he tried to push himself up, summoning every last inch of power he had to try and stand up to the weight of Kurama's power.

" **This isn't personal ningen, but he is watching us as we speak, though he cannot hear me, he will know if I hold back. Regardless, your life is meaningless to me in favor of my daughter's**." Kurama's voice growled out.

Issei cast Observe on the King of the Yokai, but he couldn't read him. Kurama was just _too high in level_.

Issei was at a boosted level _600,_ and Kurama was _still_ too high in level for him to read.

That was when Issei noticed what was forming in the man's clawed hands, it looked like a bubbling form of energy, and his eyes recognized it as chakra, but, he was mixing chakra in different quantities, both negative and positive, what in the world could he be mixing that –

" **Bijudama**."

 _Shit!_

A hasty Substitution with a nearby statue followed by the implementation of Shadow Step saved Issei from a brief colossal explosion once more, and once the Gamer had begun moving, he didn't bother looking back.

 _He ran._

' _Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Think! Think!_ '

He had not been anticipating Kurama being this strong. He had planned to free him from Midas' control and eventually the Yokai King would aid him in destroying Midas… but he had not calculated on this possibility that Kurama was only faking being controlled out of fear for his daughter.

' _Alright, if Dil-chan can find his daughter, he'll have no reason to want to kill me, and he'll help me with Midas… right? Possibly._ '

Kurama was ludicrously stronger than him. If he had preparation time, _maybe_ he could _outthink_ the powerful being, and come up with a plan to defeat him, but the being attacked on the spur of the moment had left Issei utterly stumped, and for now, his goal was to _survive_ and not to fight.

Kurama appeared in front of him, and Issei came to a stop immediately, watching as the bored, lackadaisical eyes of the being stared at him.

" **Just stay still and die ningen. At best, Death likes you too much to let you stay dead, and at worst you will be reincarnated as a devil.** "

Issei chuckled. "You – you know about the loops don't you? The Exodus Switch… all of it?"

Kurama actually managed a small grin. " **Yes. A shame you don't remember any of it… in another timeline you and I were best of friends and went on some amazing adventures.** "

"Did I at least have sex in that timeline?"

" **Did you? All you cared about was sex! You had an orgy with tons of bunnygirls all day long. I remember… wait… why am I telling you any of this?** "

Kurama blinked, his eyes narrowing as he brought his hands together. " **KAI!** "

Issei grinned. "What's wrong?"

" **KAI!** "

"You're not in an illusion you know."

" **KAI!** "

The world shimmered, and Kurama found himself standing, being restrained by chains upon chains of tangible shadows, with two of the chains forming into a massive, incorporeal dragon.

He stared at Issei, who was seemingly grinning at him from a distance away.

" **How… there are very little illusions in this world capable of deceiving me, and you do not possess the skill level to create any of them.** "

Issei coughed a bit before sighing. "I absorbed the powers of the Rainbow Goddess Iris. Altering light waves in the correct manner can be a perfect set-up for the Heaven Viewing Mirror."

Kurama managed to look decently impressed, for all of a brief second before scoffing. " **These shadows won't hold me ningen.** "

"I know that. You know that. But does Midas know that?"

Kurama's lips twitched into a smirk. " **No he doesn't.** "

The Gamer gave a curt nod, before turning around.

" **I suppose I am a bit rusty… I think it would take me about five minutes to break free… if you were to reach him and defeat him within that time… it would be entirely out of my control.** "

Issei allowed a small grin to grace his face.

"Five minutes eh?" Issei craned his neck "I'll do it in three."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~

Freed Selzen coughed as he rolled out of another collapsing statue, watching as the entire place was crumbling to bits.

"Gah, fucking crapomancer shoving me with some psychic shit… fuck, can't believe that fucker actually saved my life."

He wasn't stupid, he could hear the battle and from the roaring flames to the exploding blasts, he knew when he was utterly out of his own element. So he needed to focus back on his goal of finding Reiji, charging through the collapsing building and dodging debris left and right.

He eventually came to a stop as he noted a large hole down below, spotting the familiar brown hair of the samurai as the man seemed to be engaging someone in a fight of sorts.

Freed snarled. "REIJI!"

He leaped down, his sword brought out as he slammed it into the ground, feeling the special holy weapon respond in turn by sending a wave of flames out in a circular pattern, encircling himself and the man in a ring of flames.

He turned to the woman that Reiji was fighting who was now outside the flames. "Oi! Sexy tits, sorry to cut in, but this bastard and I have some unfinished business."

It would be much later that he would realize that he had just called Serafall freaking Leviathan, 'sexy tits'. Either the woman did not mind or she did not notice, as she took the opportunity to leave when it was granted to her, leaving Freed Selzen staring directly at his sensei, who seemed easily displeased at the turn of events.

"At fucking last. It's just me and you sensei, there's nowhere to run, and I'm going to take great pleasure in fucking stabbing you over and over again until you're a nice pile of grilled cheese."

Reiji extended his blade, which Freed now noted, was Murayama's blade. "Considering that was the manner in which you killed your father, I should feel honored."

"Oi… where's bitch-face? Murayama?"

He smiled. "Who?"

"Your daughter! Where the fuck is she?!"

Freed's vision caught the glint of the sword, his eyes almost widening as he noticed a reflection within it, of a girl, seemingly trying to get out.

"What. Did. You. Do?!"

"The Busujima family sword has been in my daughter's possession for a long time, a shame that she did not realize that the sword had the ability to absorb demons and use their strength as its own."

He twirled the blade, slashing it into the air, and Freed watched as a shockwave emitted from the weapon.

"She wished to aid me however she could… now, I suppose she can."

"You sick, twisted fucker." Freed rose his sword, his eyes easily sharpened. "This ends now sensei. It fucking ends now."

* * *

 **Kindly leave me lots of nice reviews!**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	28. Anomaly II: Curtain Call

**This story seems to be going good. Loving, adoring fans, nice word count and decent number of reviews. So it had me wondering though, why I found myself losing motivation to type it? Hmm... it started to feel somewhere along the line that I had stopped writing what I wanted to write and started writing what people wanted to see, due to my own innate phobia of negative criticism.**

 **Then I realized if that would make me abandon this story, I'd better kick it to the curb. Rather to eat up the flames and complete this tale, than to enjoy tons of positive feedback and leave it uncompleted.**

 **So, heads up now - that Character Death warning I told you about? It's coming out in full force this chapter, and with this, the Midas Arc is completed.**

 **Oh, and this Chapter is specially dedicated to Flux Casey, as though we may have our disagreements and you may have stopped reading this, you did in fact, make me reconsider a lot of things, and motivated me to type out this chapter.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 27:**

 **Anomaly II: Curtain Call**

* * *

 **The Midas Complex**

' _Fucking fuckity fuck!'_

Freed Selzen swore to himself as he evaded an overhead slash that would have easily decapitated him by ducking, and then attempted a direct stab with his own sword, only for it to be instantly countered, as Reiji's blade met his, and he cursed upon noticing the image of Murayama within the blade recoil sharply in pain as a large cut appeared on her arm.

' _Fucking bastard! I can't risk blocking his sword cause bitch-face is inside and I'll kill her by accident, but he doesn't have any fucking thing holding him back! Fucker!_ '

Reiji's sword came down, and Freed cursed as he found himself rolling out of the way, but not before he received a sharp kick to his somewhat still healing ribs that made him swear loudly, as he found himself kicked to the edge of their fiery ring.

' _Gah… the bastard doesn't even_ need _to use bitch-face as a weapon… fuck, I can't beat him, I've never been able to beat him, he's one of the fucking strongest exorcists in the world for a reason!'_

Freed sprung to his feet, staring at the icy cold eyes of Reiji, and found himself cracking his brain for a rapid solution.

' _If I want to kill this son of a bitch, I need to fucking free bitch-face from that sword… but how the fuck do I do that?_ '

Reiji sprung at him, blade fully extended, causing Freed to dodge to the left, easily swaying from the shockwaves that was caused from simply swing around the sword, before attempting to balance himself, as he brought down his own sword in what was a textbook defensive stance.

All around them, the sounds of the Theater collapsing echoed, the fiery flames burned down anything and everything in seeming sight, and the heat made a thin layer of sweat coat the white haired exorcist as he stared down his teacher, the man having fallen deathly silent since their battle had begun, knowing better to fall for any of Freed's tricks or taunts.

He let out a sigh.

"Oi bastard, I don't get it. I mean, we all know you were never father of the fucking year material, but why the hell do you hate your own fucking daughter so much?"

The man's cold eyes seemed to still for a brief second.

"If it's because she was born with tits and a pussy, then you'd probably win the 'most sexist fucker in the world' award hands down."

Reiji growled. "Do you truly believe that such a trivial reason is my motivation? I could have cared less if she were male or female."

The battle between student and teacher came to a brief pause as the only sound that reverberated around them were the screams of dying individuals, and residual booms of explosions.

Through the sword, Freed watched as Murayama had heard him clear as day, and her expression twisted into one of incomprehensible shock, and no small amount of disbelief.

"Then why the fuck do you hate her?"

Why? That was the question he asked himself, feeling his voice become more and more guttural as he tried to ignore the aching pains in his side, the glistening sweat on his body becoming sticky and uncomfortable, and his bare feet on the ground had begun bleeding from being constantly used to step on all manner of abrasive objects.

"Because she was born."

The cold, calm declaration cut across the burning complex like a lone arrow whistling through the silent night sky. The declaration caught Murayama off guard as her visage in the sword recoiled as though physically struck.

Freed took in a sharp breath. " _What?_ "

"I thought at first that I would be able to grow to love her, but whenever I stared at her, all I could see was the future that she had ruined."

"The fuck are you talking about?"

He stopped, staring at the sword in his hand, before slowly striking his blade into the ground, ignoring the girl's look of pain.

' _Bastard!'_

"The Busujima Clan is an old one. It has been in existence for years and years, spanning more generations than you would find in the Royal Families of Europe. Our very first ancestors lived in an era so far gone that it is all but lost to humanity."

He shook his head. "We were not always a clan of swordsmen, no, as a matter of fact, we were a clan of priests and priestesses, given charge to protecting the world against the return of an evil demon named Moryo. It was only through time that our clan leaders discovered the urgent need to have capable warriors, and in time, we eventually became a powerful tribe of swordsmen and women."

"What does this shit have to do with – gah!"

He swung at him, grabbing the blade from the earth and letting out a massive backhanded swipe, the shockwave striking Freed down in seconds, and making him scowl as the aching in his ribs grew even worse, feeling one of them very nearly puncture a lung.

"Don't interrupt me. I am giving this lecture because of you Freed."

He stared at the sword. "Of course, soon we grew arrogant in our power, in our strength, and some members of the clan rebelled, formed a rival faction who decided that they would ally with the demon, and use his power to become stronger. This led to a brutal civil war where brother killed brother and fathers killed sons."

"Fucker like you would seem right at home there – gah goddamnit! Fuck!"

After being knocked down a second time with the concussive force of a charging bull, Freed wisely decided to remain shut.

"Afterwards, the Head Priestess made a law into motion, this law was said that every member of the Busujima clan would partake of a special ritual at least once in their youth that would allow them, to grant a glimpse into their future, to perceive their destinies and purpose. From this, they would know if they or their children would ever unseal Moryo or intend to use his power. If it was seen that they would, they were to commit seppuku immediately after completing the ritual."

He shook his head. "Now, even though several years have passed, this ritual of foresight still takes root in the Busujima Clan. I partook of the ritual, and what I saw in my future was not one of unsealing Moryo, nor was it of turning great evil."

His eyes seemed to lighten. "I saw myself, my wife, and my _son_ , living happily, as I would grow to old age and he would carry on my legacy, becoming all the things I failed to be, and bringing true pride to the Busujima name. But then… she had a miscarriage."

Silence reigned.

"Not once, in several millennia has the Ritual of Foresight been wrong. Not once. I went back, and met her, the Clan Matriarch and asked for why this had happened. But she said that all I should do was wait, and perhaps it was simply time flowing along."

Freed managed to rise to his feet again, ignoring the stinging in his chest as his eyes narrowed upon focusing on the face of his sensei, noticing, that for what seemed to be the first time since he had known the man, his eyes were displaying genuine emotion.

"Alas, my wife was pregnant again, and I was calmed, believing the future to still be in stone, but then, she was born, _a girl_."

Reiji stared at the blade as though it was the accumulated pile of shit from the numerous stalls of military encampment.

"I went back again, in search of an explanation, and what I heard baffled me. That _she_ , somehow was _destined_ for something greater than I or my _son_ , that she had a huge part to play in some great change and cataclysm and as a result, _fate_ , had decided to bring her into this world. This I could accept, and in turn, I took the Ritual of Foresight once more, the first ever person to take it twice, and do you know what I saw?"

Freed was tempted, so sorely tempted to ask ' _Do I give a fuck?_ ' but he noticed, through the blade, Murayama's eyes fixed upon the man, her expression twisted into one of confusion, agony, and a different mesh of other emotions that made him bite his lip and let the man continue. Fuck, he was getting soft, and at this point he wasn't sure if he was thinking with his dick or something else entirely, but goddamned it, Murayama deserved this closure with her father.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Reiji's body shook in a manner that one would easily have mistaken for laughter, had the situation not been so dire.

"Do you know what that meant? It meant that my future, my legacy, my happiness, _none_ of it mattered and that my only purpose for existing, for living and breathing… was to bring _her_ into this world."

The rogue white-haired exorcist chewed on the inside of his cheek. Well, he may have hated his sensei, but to be told that you only existed to be some sort of baby factory for one baby, well, that kinda sucked.

"You sure you weren't fucking seeing that shit wrong?"

"That was the very same thing I had believed, right up until I took the Ritual a Third time and finally saw my fate, my purpose, my final moments, staring up at _her_ face, dead, by _her_ blade."

The man grasped the blade, gently rubbing his hand against it as his eyes seemed to be filled with melancholy.

"I _tried_ to love you Murayama, I really did. I tried to look upon you as my flesh and blood and give you affection, but whenever I saw you, all I could see was a clock counting down to my own death and an embodiment of all the things that could never be."

Freed felt that he had heard enough. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins, and he let himself give a low, deep growl as he pushed back the pain, pushed back the hesitation and the restraint, pushed back every last dredge of sympathy or kindness that would have left him weakened, and then he outright _commanded_ his own body to send in the rush of adrenaline he needed.

"Sensei… you're a FUCKING idiot!"

The roar came out like an almost guttural sounding grunt, the deep vibrations in his throat only aiding to once more enhance his voice, which made the man fumble at the sheer maliciousness of it all.

"So, because some fucking oracle said that she killed you, you fucking fell for it like an idiot? You would lie down over a side, spread your legs and let fucking _fate_ and _destiny_ shove it's dick up your ass and make you shriek like a common whore?"

Reiji seemed to regain his voice. "The predictions were absolute –"

"ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT!" Freed roared, feeling his chest heave in heavy rhythms "Just because you saw some fucking messed up shit in the future, doesn't fucking mean it's going to happen! You fucking let your entire goddamned life be ruled by ONE fucking vision of the future! You ever stop to think, doing all the shit you did, is what is going to fucking bring up this bullshit future in the first place? You fucking think about that for one goddamned second?"

Reiji recoiled. "I –"

"Well it doesn't fucking matter!"

Freed swung his sword as his eyes gained a malicious red glow.

"Sensei, you're going to die by _MY_ sword, and I'm going to be the fucking last thing you ever see, to prove to you, that your entire _fucking_ bullshit prophecy, was a fucking hoax, and send you to goddamned hell feeling like the MOTHERFUCKING idiot you are!"

The ground beneath his feet exploded outwards, leaving imprints within it as he soared, an eagle, a cheetah and a rocket all at once, letting out a mighty cry that served to stun his opponent with the sheer ferocity, as he brought his sword in for a spinning overhead slash.

Reiji was barely able to raise the Murayama Blade to intercept the attack.

There was the loud clang from the echo of metal striking metal, and once more, the girl's visage in the sword recoiled, as a portion of her shirt was cut, and a long shallow slash appeared from her neck down to her belly button.

Freed's eyes glowered.

' _Goddamn it!'_

"It's over Freed."

In a motion that was faster than eyes could track, Reiji's blade shifted from a defensive position to an offensive one.

Freed's eyes widened as he coughed out blood, the fluids splashing unto Reiji's face, as he realized he could feel something wet on him. His gaze lowered, slowly, until he traced his eyes to the sword that had pierced straight through his chest, extremely close to where his heart was and had come clean through the other side.

' _Shit. Shit. Shit! SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT! I'm NOT fucking dying like this Reiji! NOT TO YOU!'_

With a roar of effort, Freed spun his arm with the blade still impaled straight through his chest, and he gained no small amount of satisfaction from watching Reiji's shocked face right before he slammed his fist directly into it, feeling his knuckles easily shatter several teeth from the impact, and loosening the man's grip on his sword, before sending him reeling.

The stunned man held unto his face, his eyes no longer believing what he was seeing.

"I-I-I stabbed you through the lungs! Near the heart – it is supposed to be fatal!"

Freed panted, coughing out a decent amount of blood as he left the blade impaled directly in his chest, he turned his gaze to Reiji, his eyes slowly, but certainly, possessing a malicious red glow, and a sudden haze seemed to surround him.

Then, he let out a massive roar like a primal beast had been set lose upon the lands to ravage and destroy.

"You've never understood me sensei…"

He stalked forward, each step followed by torrents of blood.

"I don't need a motherfucking heart to live. I don't need oxygen or food or water. All I need sensei, all I have ever needed to live, is a FUCKING REASON!"

A shadowy apparition, seemed to appear behind him, shaping, turning, twisting, and it looked down upon him like a smoky apparition, a skull with all the attributes of madness and insanity.

' _He- he can't be human… no… there's no way…'_

Reiji scrambled backwards, watching as the apparition behind the enraged soul of Freed Selzen set his eyes upon him, head tilting and fangs bared…

"AND MY FUCKING REASON TO LIVE RIGHT NOW…"

The demon lunged.

"…IS TO SEND YOU TO HELL!"

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Satan's Theater**

Rias Gremory was not entirely certain as to what was going on. The fact that they had been invaded by the Greek Gods came as a shocker, as she could not, in any way or form understand why the invasion had taken place, or what the motives where, all she knew, was that she had to ensure the safety of her peerage and her family, and fight back the invading forces.

"Akeno, you take care of the cyclops, I'll handle the Chimeras."

"Yes buchou!"

She flew into the air with the aid of her devil wings, and channeled the famous Power of Destruction into her hands, fashioning them into the shape of arrows, as they began raining down on the Chimera beasts, effortlessly piercing through the goat and lion head's and being coated with a fine line of gray matter before they all seized to exist, or rather, before the power disintegrated the entirety of the organic materials of the beasts, one after another.

"Rias!"

She turned, eyes wide as one of the creatures had attempted to reach her blindside, only to watch as it was suddenly split in two, a splatter of blood and guts staining her as she witnessed the spine of the monster be removed from the lower half of its body.

She glanced up to her savior, a man dressed in a suit that she had no problems recollecting, having seen it multiple times, alongside with his crimson hair that was the color of blood, much like her own.

"F-father?"

Lord Zeoticus Gremory grimaced at his ruined clothes, and had definitely seen better days, but the man managed to give her a smile that indicated he was alright.

"Are you alright Rias?"

Rias nodded. "I-I'm fine father, have you seen mother? I got separated from her when the fighting began."

The man's expression managed to turn grim. "The last I saw of Venelana, she was fighting the goddesses Hera and Hestia with Ruval Phenix."

Rias took a sharp breath. Her mother was fighting _goddesses_?

"Father, what's going on? Why are the Greek Gods invading?"

"I do not know. All I know is that Sirzechs, Ajuka, Falbium and Alucard are currently fighting against the combined might of Artemis, Apollo, Zeus, Poseidon, the rest of the Olympians and the commanders of the Grigori."

Rias' eyes widened. Even for her brother, who was a Super Devil, and the powerful No-Life King, the odds were _extremely_ stacked against them – facing off against powerful god-class opponents and the strongest Fallen Angels in existence was not going to be a battle that they could walk away from unscathed.

It was doubly so for her brother, who would no doubt have to hold back lest he ended up accidentally killing everyone in the vicinity, and destroying the entirety of the Satan's Theater.

"We have to push back the beasts. They are mostly cannon fodder, but their sheer numbers and size are overwhelming us. Gather your peerage, we –"

Rias blinked, there was a flash of silver, or something similar, and then she let out a sharp gasp of pain as a long horizontal gash appeared on her arms and across her stomach, easily spurting blood.

She found it even odder that there was a large torrent of blood pouring down on her, only for her to gaze up, and stare at the headless body of what was once her father.

"F-f-f-father?"

No, this was – this was some sort of dream, a nightmare – there was no way –

"F-father?"

It could not actually be – _he_ could not actually be –

"FATHER!"

Her hands shook as the blood splattered her face, and the headless body began falling, descending down effortlessly like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

She dove after the body, arms outstretched as she ignored the aching lump in her throat and the stinging in her eyes as she wanted to catch up to him, because there was no way that her father could –

She was blindsided by a half-naked blur covered in blood, and tackled to the ground hard, slamming into it with enough force to create a small crater.

She gazed up, tears if anger and sorrow mixing as she wanted to see who in the world had _dared_ –

"S-Sona? What are you doing! Let go of me, I need to get to my father –"

"Rias."

"Let go of me Sona!"

"Rias. Your father is dead."

"No! He's not – he's not –"

"LISTEN TO ME RIAS!"

In all their years of knowing each other, Rias had never once heard Sona's voice go higher than a certain pitch, and she had not, _ever_ so much as heard her _yell_. The haze and shock managed to take back seat, as she stared at her friend, her friend whose eyes were deep, tired, and were desperately trying to hold back just as much tears as she was.

W-when had she ever seen Sona cry?

"He – he is dead. You understand? There is nothing we can do about that now. And I _understand_ how much it must hurt, but if _you_ go out there, _you_ will die as well."

She understood? She _understood?_ She dare say that she understood what it was like to –

Then cold realization seeped in.

"Y-your parents –"

Sona was silent for a brief second.

"They were directly under the initial blast. I found two burnt carcasses that generally looked familiar enough, but I had not the time to examine closer."

Rias felt somewhat hollow.

The initial blast that had hit the Satan's Theater had been a wave of holy energy mixed in with the concussive force of an explosion. With light being the weakness of any and all devils, numerous people had perished from the first strike alone.

"I don't – I don't understand, why is this happening? We –"

Whatever she wanted to say was rapidly interrupted as Sona picked her up princess style, and all but dashed out of the way with speed that Rias did not know the girl possessed, only to watch as two blades had slammed into the spot mere milliseconds later.

Any sense of pride she would have felt or embarrassment at being carried along in such a manner by her friend ended as she had no other choice but to hold onto Sona tighter as the girl had began evading a rapid fire assault of spinning, chained blades that struck around them, emitting fire with each strike, as Sona did her best to evade them.

Rias was confused as to what was going on, right up until she was finally able to see him – the man who was attacking them, the man who had killed her father, a bald man with ashy-white skin and red tattoos, with a malicious scowl upon his face.

Rias felt her magical energy spike as the death of her father instantly came back to mind, and all she wanted, more than anything, was to make the man in front of her, _DIE!_

"Rias – wait!"

She had burst free from Sona's care, eyeing down the man as she channeled a large portion of her Power of Destruction.

 _Thicker, Denser, Faster, Stronger, Sharper –_ the mix of her grief and her anger combined, forming a large, gargantuan sized sphere of the power which could reduce everything and anything into sheer nothingness, and with it, she rose it high, and launched it directly at the being.

The man looked unfazed, as though the attack would have no effect on him, wings sprung on his back, long and dark, he lunged forward into the sphere, a glowing blue blade that practically _screamed_ godly power emerging in his hand.

Then, to Rias' utmost shock and disbelief, he carved through her attack, the sword making a huge divide in between the ball of destructive energy, and then the blade lay directly between her eyes.

Her entire life flashed before her eyes in that brief second, as she heard Sona scream out her name, she could witness everything that she had ever seen, heard, and experienced come back to her in slow motion, and all at once, she realized that she was going to die.

Right up until a bullet struck the blade, _and_ anotherthe man, sending him off target, and allowing Rias to escape with only the superficial damage of a large portion of her hair being cut off.

She collapsed to the ground, shock and fear still riding her form as she took in several gasps of air, feeling a wet sensation between her legs as she realized that she had pissed herself from the fear.

She turned to her rescuer, finding a familiar blue-haired devil with two revolvers in hand, clearly still smoking from the recently fired shots.

"So… I just shot a godslayer in the face to save your life. If he's not dead, I am so, _so_ screwed."

Rias wanted to laugh at Tsubasa's joke, but what came out was a scrawled gasp as she was still shaking off the fear from a near death experience, and even though she had believed that fighting Kokabiel would give her limitless confidence and an unflinching ability to face death, she had immediately discovered it was not the case.

Sona appeared, dropping in front of Rias, and for a brief second, she had expected another resounding slap.

Instead, the sad, desolate look Sona gave her pierced deeper than any physical reprimand could possibly have. It hurt more knowing that Sona was a person who rarely displayed much emotion to begin with.

"Rias, I know we may not have been on talking terms before all of this happened, but _please,_ "

Rias flinched at the way Sona's voice cracked.

" _Do not die._ "

Slowly, she nodded.

The girls barely had time to utter any other words, as there was an explosion of smoke, and the bald man returned, looking none the worse for wear.

"ENOUGH!"

The man roared out, before bringing forth his sword.

"I have fought far greater beasts than you dare approach, I will not be mocked by weaklings and mere women."

The three girls in question felt incredibly peeved at the remark of _mere_ women.

"Mou, good thing I don't count as either."

Rias blinked, staring in confusion and awe, as one second, the bald man was standing on his own, insulting them, and the next, there was an effeminate looking boy casually _leaning his elbow_ on the godslayer's shoulder.

Then the next thing she knew, he was directly beside Sona.

"Mou, what do you think hebi-hime? A Dhampire, two clan heiresses and –"

He turned to Tsubasa, raising an eyebrow, as the girl was for some weird reason, affectionately sucking on her guns like it was a phallic object, only to stop as she realized she was the center of attention.

"I-I-It's not my f-fault! I-Issei made all his Carnal Armaments powered by p-perverted actions!"

The Dhampire pretended as though he didn't hear her.

" – an ecchi gunslinger versus a godslayer. Think we can do it?"

Rias noticed that the bald man had already begun charging towards them.

"We do not have much of a choice."

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~

 **The Midas Complex**

Issei walked through the ruins of the burning complex, his shirtless form sheening slightly with sweat from the residual heat, his eyes narrowed into slits as he stared down at himself, finding his pants also having almost burnt out, and finding himself without shoes whatsoever.

He frowned as he headed into what was essentially going to be an exclusive area of the Complex, which was a large, hexagonal styled room, and all the while, he found himself shaking his head.

' _Something on your mind partner?_ '

Issei let out a sigh. "I've lost this war haven't I?"

Ddraig seemed confused. ' _What do you mean?_ '

"Kurama's attacks were indiscriminate. His first strike had annihilated the entirety of where I stood – where there were hundreds if not thousands of Fallen Angels – all of which were under my Sleep spell. All of which are now dead."

It was ridiculous for one second to even _assume_ that the Fallen Angels had evaded or survived that barrage, when Issei had barely managed to do so. Perhaps if they had not been knocked unconscious, _some_ of them might have been able to escape, but now, now he could proudly say that he had played a pivotal role in the near-annihilation of an entire species.

' _It was not your fault –_ '

"No. It is." Issei shook his head "All of this… this plan, this attack… I could have probably stopped it beforehand, maybe, I could have even prevented it… but…"

He sighed. "The only reason the anomalies exist is because of me, the only reason they are even here is because of my past screw ups. By that logic, I am responsible for every life they take."

' _But that is why you are attempting to correct that – to do the right thing?_ '

"I'm not a hero Ddraig. To be honest, I'm goddamned selfish. I didn't _care_ about the trafficking of elves and felt it's not my business, I don't care about the large scale of the world around me, or of the deaths and suffering of hundreds of innocents. I'm not doing _any_ of this because I feel it's right or it's just. I'm just a guy trying to fix his screw-ups, because not doing so would be highly inconvenient..."

Issei took in a deep breath.

"If everyone in the world except the ones I cared about and the ones _they_ cared about were to die, I wouldn't care. That's just the type of person I am."

' _Wait… Hyoudou… why are you saying this? Are you saying you believe this will end with the deaths of hundreds?_ '

"It is the only way I can see it ending."

' _How is that so? You are about to encounter Midas, once you defeat him –_ '

"Once I defeat him, there'll be another anomaly around the corner, stronger and faster, or another madman with a world domination plan, or another homicidal maniac with goals of mass genocide. And on and on it goes, even _after_ the anomalies are defeated."

' _And you will keep repelling them –_ '

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life _fighting_ bad guys Ddraig. I'm not a defender of justice or a paragon of hope – I didn't sign any agreement to be the world's savior."

"Then perhaps, you're best option, is to end it all – to tear asunder this world from the foundation up."

 **Danger Detected!**

 **Boss Level Opponent Detected!**

As befitting of his motif as a king, Midas stood above him, above the rest, on a pillar of golden sand with his hands crossed, the anomaly stared down at him as an omnipresent deity would gaze upon his creations.

Issei gave him a strict gaze. "Midas. I have no time for bullshit – my patience is thin, I'm sick of watching people die and fighting egotistical maniacs. Call off your army, and I'll consider _not_ killing you."

Midas let out a dry laugh. "We are not so different boy, I too, have grown tired of witnessing the futility of this world."

Issei snorted. "And for that reason, what, you decided to destroy it?"

"No, just the devils, the fallen and all the gods, for their races are those which reeks of narcissism." Midas shook his head. "Tell me Red Dragon Emperor, you mingled with the devils of the Underworld did you not? What was your impression of them? Did any of them seem like individuals that would benefit mankind? Benefit the future? Did they have any goals that was not myopic and self-serving, riddled with their own vanity?"

Issei's lips morphed into a thin line. There was no denying it, the vast number of devils he had mingled with in the underworld were sickening, one-dimensional creatures of narcissistic endeavors.

"Not that it would matter – the futility of actions has made it abundantly clear to me that there is no longer any point to 'dreams' to 'hopes' and to 'aspirations'."

"What?"

"I am the wealthiest being in existence. I have tasted more affluence, more wealth, more power than anyone and anything. And I can stand and tell you, that none of it matters. Material pursuits are meaningless, trivial, and so insignificant on the grand scale, yet, devils more so than any other race, dedicate their lives to the attainment of these trifling things."

"Sounds hypocritical coming from you."

His stony eyes seemed almost placated. "Is it? When you have walked down a path and fell into a hole, would you not try to warn others have the same hole? And when you witness more and more people eagerly jumping into the hole to their own demise, would you not seek to then cover it up?"

Slowly, Issei's eyes were widening.

"In a past life, I had taken my duties of a leader over my responsibilities as a father, and my attempt to gain strength, wealth and influence led to me turning my youngest child into a weapon, ostracizing my older two, and eventually dying at the hands of a man who toyed at my ambitions easily."

His cold eyes never wavered.

"Then in my current life, my own greed for wealth led to me turning my wife and my daughters into gold, an accident of touch, and left me once more realizing my folly."

Midas shook his head."People pursue such obsessions believing they make something out of life. But, in the end a rock is a rock no matter what you make it look like. They will die, it will erode, and there will be nothing left – their wealth does not follow them to their graves. In short what they do does not matter, because the end is all the same. There is no difference between the corpses."

He then stretched out his arms.

"Hence I have decided to end it – to end the vanity of the devils, to collapse the egotism of the gods – Their actions, bereft of nothing but self-interest sicken me, being mere vanity upon vanity – I will tolerate it no longer."

Issei growled. "So you'll kill all of them, simply for wanting material things?!"

The Golden King stared down at Issei, and answered him with a simple word.

"Yes."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **The Midas Complex – Elsewhere**

Serafall Leviathan was not entirely sure as to what was going on. All she knew, was that the entire building had begun shaking, going utterly haywire as powerful, endless streams of attacks seemed to constantly plague the building.

' _Exit… exit… need to find an exit…_ '

She came across a large door, and effortlessly summoned up a huge sword of water to slice it open, before barreling through, and grinning as she found herself looking at the open sky.

She however blinked, upon the realization that what she was supposed to be looking at was, in fact, the Fallen Angel Territory – or whatever _remained_ of it.

Entire tidal waves of sand and gold peaked past the point in the clouds, engulfing everything like a foretold destroyer of worlds, as whatever was left of the fallen angels, children and women, scrambled about in futility like termites within a burning anthill, until they were slowly, one by one, engulfed by the sands.

It was a genocide, pure and simple. A complete and utter destruction of the Fallen Angel race by one man, one being had attempted and seemingly succeeded to kill hundreds of thousands of people.

It made her sick to her core, and she grit her teeth at the sight.

"Kukuku… enjoying the view?"

Serafall spun, her guard instantly up as she moved into an offensive position, and across from her, was a young man with pale skin and yellow slit-eyes like that of a snake, giving her the oddest, coldest smile she had ever seen before, and what perhaps made him even more creepy, was the sleeping young girl he had on his shoulder, a young child that Serafall could ascertain belonged to the Yokai faction.

"W-who are you?"

The man's smile never waned. "A scientist."

Serafall faltered, _that_ was most certainly not what she was expecting to hear.

"A scientist, here? You work for Midas?"

He shook his head. "Quite the opposite actually."

All at once, Serafall found the man very, very dangerous.

"Is _this –_ " she gestured to the mass genocide "Your doing?"

The man did not even attempt to hide it. "Of course, it is the conclusion of a long-reaching scientific endeavor."

"Scientific endeavor?" She sounded utterly baffled.

"The removal of unnecessary lifeforms from their place in existence."

" _Unnecessary?_ "

"Evolutionarily speaking, Fallen Angels are unnecessary. Their existence arises due to being _flawed_ angels, and while Angels themselves have a purpose in the universe to spread their goodness and virtues, and devils exist to tempt and corrupt, the Fallen are neither. They merely exist for the sake of existing, have no true goals to accomplish, and constantly serve as a threat of corruption for the Angels, and a competitor of resources for the devils."

Serafall's jaw clenched. "Even so… mass genocide of an entire race for such a trivial reason?"

"Kukuku… look at it this way Satan Leviathan. Without the Fallen Angels, the next Holy War will be the last one, either the devils finally slay all the angels and take heaven for themselves, or the angels are victorious and the devil race is brought to extinction."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you… what do you get out of any of this?"

The snake-eyed man practically glowed.

"A satisfied curiosity."

With those words, he lay the young Yokai girl on the ground and vanished in a puff of smoke. Mere seconds later, Serafall witnessed the appearance of the most complicated slime familiar she had ever seen.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~

 **Midas Complex – Elsewhere**

The Gamer was done playing around. He was done having to fight people like Midas, he was done holding back, joking or jesting. If he had a means to complete a fight, end his opponent in the fastest way possible, he would take it. There was no longer any need for him to drag on fights endlessly if he possessed the means to end it.

Supersonic pellets of gold dust rained upon Issei like bullets from a machine gun, and the Gamer simply stood his ground, opening his inventory.

"Larceny."

The bullets of gold entered his inventory, and Issei noted, with some bit of amusement, that it was instantly converted into money.

Midas growled as all his attempts to send down golden rain upon his enemy ended in the same way, with the boy somehow uttering the word 'larceny' and then his gold would magically disappear.

"What sorcery is this? How are you negating my attacks?"

"Do you _really_ expect me to give you an answer, or where you just asking for the purpose of sounding stupid?"

Midas growled. "Do not underestimate me boy! All I need to end you is a single touch!"

Midas lunged forward, his hands outstretched, the legendary Midas Touch which would turn the Gamer into a mere statue seemingly coming closer and closer.

Once he reached within ten feet of Issei, the Gamer rose a finger.

"Telekinesis."

Midas was _slammed_ to the ground, like a giant would slam a fly, and then instantly raised up and slammed again, and then again, and again, until the man became a ricocheting human pinball over and over and over, before he was tossed aside, launching through the air with a burst of speed, and crashing _through_ several _solid gold_ statues, before coming to an abrupt stop.

The broken, battered and bloody form of Midas rose up from the rubble, blood streaming down his face as he looked positively _enraged_.

Issei merely sighed. "It's clear now to me. It should have been clear the whole time, but you're not the 'big boss' here. You're not even a King, just a sacrificial pawn."

Midas growled. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Issei stared at him, the 'anomaly'.

"Is it not odd, that you and only you were the one reincarnated, out of all the shinobi of the era or elemental nations, only a guy whose most memorable act as a leader, was being deceived and dying at the hands of a mere criminal?"

Rasa's face began to growl "What are you insinuating?"

"Someone like the First Hokage wasn't reincarnated, but a half-bit leader like you? No. That isn't luck or chance, you're only here because _someone_ wants you to be. You're here to buy time or to serve as a distraction –"

"ENOUGH!" he roared "I have had enough of this blatant nonsense. This ends NOW!"

A cascading tidal wave of golden sand formed around the man, easily reaching sixty feet in height, dwarfing anything and everything in its path, and _still_ increasing higher and higher, as though a titan had decided to flap its bedsheet into the wind, the massive climbing cascade of golden sand made Issei look like an ant in front of a giant sand castle.

Then, it all came rearing down on the Gamer.

Issei, for his part, did not look intimidated in the least.

"Hyoudou Style Secret Technique…" he said, before deeply inhaling.

Interesting fact about his Gamer's Body, he could not get drunk due to the ability, and as such, he had son found out that all of the more poisonous or harmful aspects of the copious amounts of alcohol he had been saving up had instead been collecting inside of his body, storing up to a certain limit. He would have died or at the very least, been taking continuous damage from it, but due to the Poison Immunity perk, it had been no more harmful than walking around with a full belly, or more accurately, like being a penguin that could regurgitate his meals.

He had not been drinking alcohol day after day just for no clear reason, and had been intending to use this skill with Fireball, but he had to thank the heavens that Kurama had launched a much fitting fire source at him.

He turned the liquid into gas within his own body, before he immediately opened a small portion of his inventory directly in front of his mouth.

 _Release,_ _Larceny_.

"Wildfire Breath."

The copious alcohol turned into highly flammable gas met on contact with the deific flames that Issei had previously absorbed from Kurama, and the entire world in front of Issei turned blinding white, as the _white_ hot flames seared towards the golden sand, the sheer heat melting, and then _boiling_ the wave of golden sand, before pushing it all back, leaving Rasa staring in utter disbelief as he was now surrounded by a tidal wave of boiling liquid gold.

"N-no!"

He gestured his arms out to stop the wave, but as Issei had suspected, he was not able to control the liquid form of his element as well and as easily as he would control its solid. That, and the sheer size of it all was almost impossible to begin to control unprepared.

"NO! NO! I cannot di –"

The tidal wave of boiling liquid gold engulfed him, leaving whatever he was about to say unfinished.

 **CRITICAL HIT!**

The golden pool of boiling gold began to move towards his direction, and, as expected, Issei rose a single hand in objection.

"Larceny."

The liquid gold swam into his inventory with ease, pouring in deeper and deeper as it vanished with a long, dry hiss. Once it was well and gone, all that remained was a golden skeleton, the last and final legacy of the once mighty Midas.

He could have sworn he heard someone scream out ' _fatality_ ' in the background.

Issei waited, a few seconds passing before noticing that as he had suspected, there was no notification congratulating him on the defeat of an anomaly.

" **Well done, Hyoudou Issei. Honestly, I did not expect you to be able to kill him so easily – and so ironically at that, using his own strongest weapon against him**."

Wisps of smoke emerged, and then, the skeleton of Midas shifted, as though forming back to life, rising straight, and then draped by the smoke which eventually turned into a long black robe, leaving what could only be described as a lich in place.

 **God of Death**

 **Hades Lv. ?**

"Hades… so it was you after all."

The being seemed to smile. " **Do tell me, how were you able to deduce that Midas was under someone else's control and not was an anomaly?** "

Issei's eyebrows shot up. "Y-you know of the anomalies?"

" **But of course, I do serve Death-sama directly, and it grants me certain privileges and access to important information. So now, when did it occur to you that something was wrong?** "

Issei frowned. "At first it was a small hunch, his puppets did not show up on my minimap, and I thought it odd, but then there was the fact that I was standing directly in front of him and he _still_ did not show up on my map as a threat. That meant something was wrong."

He shook his head. "Then there was the fact that my Quest never once updated to put in any information about Midas, it kept saying I had to kill Kratos, Save Serafall and Stop the War. Not once was Midas or the Midas Complex mentioned, despite him orchestrating everything… it meant that somehow, he was either above or below recognition to the Exodus Switch. That meant there was someone that either had the means or the power to affect my game so much, and he was backing Midas. Out of all possible connections, you were the most likely suspect."

" **Because I am Hades – therefore, I** _ **must**_ **be the villain where the Greek faction is concerned?** "

Issei shrugged. "I'm not wrong am I?"

The being managed a chuckle. " **I suppose you are not.** "

"Why did you reincarnate Rasa? What do you stand to gain from any of this?"

Hades shook his head. " **I did it over several thousand years ago, at the behest of a man who had offered me something great in return for such a small feat. I however, did not anticipate on the man being so well versed on Rasa's psychology that he played the fool like the very puppets he loved, down to this very moment – the true puppet master was never the puppeteer.** "

"Who was this man?"

" **He is currently the Demon Overlord and the man who killed Rasa in the first place, but you may know him as Orochimaru.** "

Issei swore. The Gamer then stumbled as the entire complex shook, acting as though the building itself had just given a giant sneeze.

"What was that?"

" **Without Rasa or Midas alive to empower it the entire Midas Complex is collapsing, and so is the Reality Marble. You need to leave at once, or you will never be able to leave at all.** "

Issei did not need to be told twice.

* * *

~~~~~~~DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~

 **The Midas Complex – Elsewhere**

Freed Selzen had not known where he had gotten his strength from.

 _Ping!_

Nor had he cared about the floating messages that had popped up in his vision.

 **Criteria Met! Initializing Exodus Switch runtime program…**

 **Initializing …**

 **Initialization Complete!**

All he knew was that it had given him the necessary strength needed, and he had found himself dashing head first and Reiji with all the strength of a demon, his blazing sword carrying along his blazing soul, as he brought it down on the man which stood in front of him.

 _Mercy?_

An utterly foreign concept which Freed Selzen did not know.

 _Restraint?_

An implement utilized by the weak in order to curtail the power of the strong.

 _Hesitation?_

A completely foreign entity which could be found in the dictionary as the antonym to Freed Selzen.

The slicing hot blade of Freed Selzen came down upon the man known as Reiji Busujima, there being no time for contemplation, restraint, mercy or hesitation, as he was cleaved perfectly in two, flicks of grey matter and from the man's brain mixing and blending with blood as the blade descended, from top to bottom, mixing gray matter, blood, and guts all together as Reiji was unable to so much as utter out a single word in objection, and the man's two separated halves fell to both sides in a spray of blood, dousing Freed utterly in the flowing red liquid and leaving guts and other intestines spilling on the floor.

The Exorcist let out a brief, tired cough, finally removing the blade lunged into his chest as he cast it aside and dropped down to the ground.

It seemed that without Reiji to sustain the spell, it could not function, and in no time, Murayama emerged from the blade, detaching from the object like someone would detach water from a canteen.

She collapsed onto the ground, before taking in a deep breath as she scanned her surroundings, her eyes falling unto the bifurcated corpse of the man she had called father.

Then, she turned to Freed.

"Y-you killed him."

The white haired exorcist let out a strangled wheeze. "At fucking last eh? And all it fucking cost me was being run through with a blade. I –"

"Why?"

The question was _not_ what Freed was expecting.

"The fuck do you mean _why_ , the bastard sealed you into a sword, was going to kill you, treated you like crap for your entire life –"

"Because he thought I was going to kill him." She said, her voice low, her body trembling "Because he was misguided, because he believed in a prophecy that was wrong – All these years I wondered why he hated me… but now that I found it, now that he knows that he was wrong and that he hated me for no reason –"

She took in a sharp breath. "He's gone."

"I –"

" _Shut up._ "

The sheer venom with which she uttered those words gave Freed Selzen pause, feeling whatever little strength he had left fade him as his blurry vision could only partially make out the completely infuriated eyes that Murayama held.

"I – I don't understand –"

"You killed my father. What did you think would happen? That I'd be _happy_? That I'd drape myself all over you and cry? What?"

Freed growled, "I just _saved_ your life you ungrateful bitch! The least you could do is thank me!"

"Oh yes, thank you for killing the last family member I had. Thank you for leaving me in a world with no one I care about, and nothing left to live for. _Thank you_ so, _very_ much."

Freed tried to muster enough strength to say something, but instead he found his lungs filled with blood, and he realized that his vision was fading, fading, and fading –

"F-fuck, you Murayama. To t-think that I a-actually cared about an utter bitch like you –"

"You're a psychopath and an unrepentant serial killer Freed. Did you really think, for one second, that I'd fall in love with you?"

Relative silence echoed between the two.

"You _actually_ did."

She glanced over him, her eyes easily frosty.

"You said it yourself didn't you? Who would ever fall in love with someone like you?"

With those words, she turned around, and walked away, her slow, resounding footsteps being the only sounds that echoed through to the rogue exorcist, as his lips managed to twitch into a slow, melancholic smile.

' _Heh… I guess I should have seen this coming. Fuck… too much blood on my hands… for any god to grant me… a happy end._ '

The eyelids of the exorcist fell, slowly, as thousands of images flashed across his vision, a vast number of them bloody, cruel and viscous, with him having taking the lives of hundreds, and with even hundreds more having suffered through his works.

' _What… a fucked life._ '

Thus, Freed Selzen, serial killer, arsonist, genius exorcist at thirteen, prodigious student of Reiji Busujima, coffee enthusiast, and one-sided lover of teenage girl Murayama Busujima, breathed his last.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Satan's Theater**

A Godslayer.

Sona accounted the required number of feats one needed to accomplish in order to be addressed with that title. One. Just one feat, and that feat was the act of slaying a god.

Of course, it meant that the enemy approaching her was one which was capable of slaying gods, and of course, sheer logic dictacted that for him to be capable of slaying gods, he had to be as strong as a god to begin with.

So, she had gone from fighting Cadre Class Fallen Angels to fighting God-level opponents.

How quaint.

"Scatter."

The group of three devils and one Dhampire leaped in different directions as the man's blade descended upon the spot where they stood, the Blade of Olympus no doubt, possessing all of his godly might and power within it.

Of course, this tidbit of information meant that Kratos was mortal, or perhaps, semi-mortal, which meant that he could be killed, and the fact that he could be killed meant that they at least possessed a chance against him, slim however as that chance may be. The major issue was actually attacking him, on a scale of E to S, Kratos was S-Class on every field that mattered, speed, strength, stamina, combat ability, reflexes – all of it was extremely, extremely high-classed, and Sona was not stupid enough to actually attempt to fight him in close combat.

Something that it seemed Gasper was attempting to do – either the Dhampire was that positively confident in his abilities, or having the power to stop time had made the young boy rush through all his battles without so much as a strategy in mind.

She did not question it, every second Kratos spent attacking the nimble Dhampire was one that she could use to formulate a plan to take down the godslayer.

"Rias, Tsubasa – Provide long range support. Rias, try to flank him with your power of destruction, Tsubasa, what exactly can those guns fire other than bullets?"

The orders came fast and swift, and Rias nodded as she began pelting the godslayer with baseball sized spheres of the power of destruction, whereas the blue haired girl blinked at the instructions.

"The pistols can fire incendiary rounds and also special rounds such as holy bullets and flaming bullets. It also has different elemental spectrums, so I can shoot all elements out of it."

Sona digested the information with the speed of a starving glutton, her eyes tracing down to where Kratos was actually putting the pressure on the Dhampire.

She stared at their location, they were moving further and further away from the main auditorium and were currently in a large, open hallway. There were numerous doors and also giant holes led out of the hallway, and instantly, the gears began turning inside her head.

"Tsubasa, Rias… I have a plan."

Their discussion had gone on swiftly enough, giving just enough time for the Dhampire to be sent careening towards them, crashing into the ground and letting out several harsh coughs.

"Bad news hebi-hime… he's a really tough cookie… being a demi-god, my power to stop time is affecting him less and less. I hope you have a good plan?"

Slowly, Sona nodded.

She took in a deep breath, and then she lunged at him. A long spear of water appeared in her left hand, and a shield of water in her right as she charged on the godslayer in close combat.

"Is this a joke woman? Do you believe yourself capable of defeating me in single combat?"

Sona didn't err. "You are a warrior of Sparta are you not? What worthier opponent could I have to test my mettle?"

The God of War let out a laugh. "Ha! What is your name woman, I shall remember the one female warrior who was brave enough to die in battle against me."

Sona ignored the slight, instead, swinging her spear around and pointing it at him. "Sona Sitri."

"Then, warrior Sona, feel honored to die by my blade!"

If Sona was swearing person, she would have sworn enough to make anyone who knew her blush, as the first strike of Kratos' blade slammed against her hardened water shield and almost destroyed it, and somehow, she felt the impact through her hand and down her arm, threatening to make it numb from the first impact alone.

The second strike she fought off much better, utilizing the strike's momentum against itself in other to bleed off the energy. She made three fast jabs with the spear, all of which Kratos dodged by swaying to the side as though he was a boxer, and Sona turned the water spear into a broadsword, raising it high as she intended to use it to cleave the man in two.

He blocked the attack effortlessly, intent on using her own momentum against her as the glowing blade of the Sword of Olympus was thrust out directly in her face.

Sona could only thank whatever deity that looked after devils for her own innate flexibility which enabled her to dodge the attack at the last second, but not before the sword had struck her nose, slicing her glasses effortlessly, and making Kratos draw first blood in the fight.

The spectacles came apart in two different directions, falling haphazardly to the ground, and Sona let out a slow, annoyed growl.

She lunged at him, morphing her sword into a Morningstar –

Only for her eyes to bulge out of his head as a kick connected with her ribcage, the sudden force sending out all the air stored in her lungs and she felt the pain of her ribs breaking and puncturing through her lungs.

She was sent soaring back as a supersonic, humanoid tumbleweed, rolling head over heels across the hallway until she felt her back crash against a wall, sending waves of pain across her entire body and imprinting her deep within.

' _That one… hurt.'_

"SONA!"

The Sitri heir coughed, blood easily following as every single breath she took sent fire down her lungs. Her hazy vision could only but briefly make out the form of Rias and Tsubasa launching suppressive fire at the godslayer, and she let herself give a small tsk in annoyance, as she should have realized that they would abandon the plan the second she looked severely injured. She only hoped they had completed the preparations.

Channeling magic into her hand, she placed a hand on her chest and froze a portion of it, barely possessing the required skill in freezing magic unlike her sister, but it was enough to numb the pain and clear her mind.

' _Now, I need to fully utilize this thing._ '

She had been running on the choker's power, but she hadn't been fully pumping all of it through her body for fear of going overboard with it once more, but there was no longer any time for such hesitation, as she pushed the button on the lewd looking object, and felt several waves of pleasure wash through her.

 _Ping!_

 **Maximum Boost Potential reached!**

 **Synchronizing battle styles…**

 **Synchronizing…**

Sona's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets when she noticed the floating notification in front of her, and on any other day, she might have believed herself to be hallucinating, but she knew for a fact that Issei had mentioned aspects of his Gamer abilities to her.

 **Synchronization Complete!**

Sona blinked as her mind was instantly filled up with how to use a scythe to fight, even though she had never for one day trained with how to use it, nor was she fluent with it in any manner or form, but nonetheless, it felt as though it was secondary nature to her when she formed the scythe of water.

Then all at once, she felt giddy as the familiar lull of breaking the sound barrier hit her.

The scythe was in her hands, spinning faster than ever, she appeared in front of Kratos, the scythe coming down with the full intent of cleaving the being in two. The man's experience and instincts did not belay his surprise at the impromptu attack, and he brought forth his own blades, having switching to the Blades of Athena to match her, and both weapons clashed.

The resulting shockwave shattered the ground on which they both stood, forcing the earth to implode on itself, and sending debris, granite and limestone flying off into the air.

Strike after strike echoed, the two figures having become invisible to the casual observer, the entire hallway becoming a ricochet of supersonic booms and exploding earth, as the two combatants could no longer be distinguished.

Sona aimed consecutively at Kratos' head, and likewise, the god-like being had all his attacks aimed at vital spots, and it became a battle of attrition, with every strike being blocked, every attack being countered, every parry being equal – one slip up, would be all it would take for the fight to end.

Or at least, that was what Sona believed, right up until Kratos' feet were suddenly enamored with weird shoes that the Sitri heir had never seen before.

Then, a pair of wings sprouted from the being's back.

' _Boots of Hermes and Wings of Icarus?_ '

Finally, his swords vanished and were replaced with a pair of lion-like gauntlets.

The sudden increase in speed was far faster than what even Sona could handle, and she once more found himself on the receiving end of a brutal smack down, as the gauntleted fist of Kratos connected directly with her face, the sound of cartilage and bone breaking echoed as Sona was sent flying to the ground.

She crashed into the ground, making a medium sized crater, before she turned around and wheezed, feeling all the strength in her body leave her.

"Tell me, _woman_ , why do you fight? For what reason do you go against me, and face certain death?"

Sona looked up to the man, who had been silent for the longest of whiles, seeing as how he preferred actions over words, and the Sitri heir realized just what kind of monsters existed in the world.

"For my friends - to keep them safe, to protect them."

The man regarded her with an odd expression, and then he shook his head.

"You have my respect, Sona Sitri – but in the end, you are too weak to protect anyone."

She wheezed. "On my own… yes… but together... we protect each other. _NOW!_ "

As she gave the signal, Tsubasa had fired off numerous bullets into the ground around them in a hexagonal pattern, and Rias had clasped her hands together to charge magical energy inside it, leaving Sona and Kratos alone inside a large, fifteen foot barrier.

He seemed amused. "Do you believe trapping yourself with me can guarantee you victory?"

"No, but I believe I will win when you run out of oxygen."

He spun on her.

" _What?_ "

Utilizing the remaining dredges of her saved magical power, the barrier was filled with water in _nanoseconds_ , one instance there was nothing, the rest, Kratos was holding his breath as he instantly turned, rushing to the end of the barrier to try and cut it down.

' _I do not think so!_ '

The water was made from her own magical energy, and as such, she had no problem summoning numerous sharks of water to pin Kratos down, clamping on to his legs and to his arms, and dragging him to he ground, as he struggled to fight off the semi-incorporeal objects.

Sona dragged herself onto the man, feeling lighter in the water than he did, watching as he trashed around in some futile attempts to escape. She tangled her legs around his neck, forcing as much pressure as she could onto it, and watching as the man tried to force her off, but instead all he could do was let out gargled screams as bubbles kept emitting from his mouth.

Sona on the other hand, remained utterly calm as she meticulously used her legs to choke the man, whilst he was already slowly lacking oxygen and succumbing to unconsciousness. She watched, eyes cold and apathetic, that even as the man had stopped struggling and remained utterly still, she kept on choking him, just in case he was faking it, and she continued choking him for an entirety of fifteen long minutes.

Then, just to be doubly sure, she grabbed his own Blade of Olympus, and pressed it against his neck, watching as the man's head was severed from his body, and the water began turning red.

Satisfied, she banged at the barrier, and watched as it came apart, the torrent of water instantly flooding the room.

She did not need to pant, or to breathe, nor did she even drown, and for once, she was extremely glad that Issei was a pervert.

The **Serpentine Sucker** enabled her to hold her breath for as long as three hours. It may have been made with very kinky sex in mind, but it was only that ridiculous feature that had enabled her to eventually kill Kratos.

' _After this, find Hyoudou-kun and have mind-blowing sex with him. Or kill him for the whole invasion fiasco. Or both._ '

That was the last thing on Sona's mind before she eventually slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

 **I can proudly say that I am the only person in fan fiction history that has written a story where Kratos is killed by Sona Sitri. Or where Kratos is killed by woman in general. Boo Yah.**

 **Next Chapter is the aftermath... and you'll find out what everyone else has been/was doing.**

 **Kindly Read and Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	29. Domino

**Three Hun-dred! Three Hun-dred! Three Hun-dred! Come on say it with me! That's right, this fic has hit 300k words! Woohoo! Thank you so much for the loving support, and thank you especially for the reviews last chapter, you really helped me get out of the slump I was having with this story.**

 **I was also incredibly intrigued to view the numerous different perspectives on Freed's character, and the possible interpretations people had. Hopefully, this chapter will shed some light as to how/why Freed's entire sub-arc began. Girls don't really pick up wounded terrorists for no reason after all.**

 **Oh, as I shall soon be hitting the thirtieth chapter of this story, you can be assured that it will be a blast. Actually... this whole chapter is a blast, and rightly deserving of the secondary story tag.**

 **Let's go!**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 28:**

 **Domino**

* * *

Sona Sitri let out a soft grumble as her eyes slowly snapped open, adjusting to the bright fluorescent lights that hung on the chandelier of the room she was in, and causing her to blink away the spots in her vision as she tried to readjust her eyesight. Her lips were extremely dry and her throat felt harshly parched, she sat up, staring at the weird woolen sheets of the bed she had never seen before, and realizing that she was in a long flowing, silky white nightgown, to which she was certain she did not own.

A small pang of pain struck her head, causing her to feel dizzy and immediately it did, a small glass of water was placed into her hands, to which she gratefully and greedily gulped down.

She eventually turned to the person who had given her the water, and her eyes were a little more than surprised to find the familiar red hair of her friend and rival, as she sat beside her, dressed in a plain white t-shirt and blue shorts. It was one of the most casual outfits Sona had ever seen her wear.

"R-Rias"

Rias Gremory, Heiress and now, Ruler of the Gremory Clan gave her a smile. Though, Sona's keen observation instantly noticed that there was something disconcerting about the girl, there was no life in her eyes, no spring in her step, no familiar cocky grin and it seemed as though her heart had lost the vibe for her usual mirthful demeanor. Instead, she was just sitting on the chair next to her bed, like the wife of an old retired war veteran who had suffered too much and enjoyed far too little.

"You need to rest Sona. We've taken care of your physical wounds, but we can't do much about magical exhaustion. You almost completely drained every last drop of magic you had in your body."

Sona found herself blinking at that particular tidbit of information. "I – I did?"

Rias let out a slow lethargic nod. "The… choker you wore was burning out your reserves, it was making you produce more magic than your body could handle."

Ah, that explained why she found herself feeling tremendously weak. Of course, with every respective shortcut to greater levels of strength and power, came a respective downside in order to curb it. Still, she was glad that she had been able to use the strength in order to protect –

Her head snapped to him so fast it almost created a sickening crack.

"What happened? The battle – Tsubasa and the Dhampire –"

She gingerly held her hand. "Tsubasa's… fine. Gasper returned the Vampire Faction Territory."

Sona let a brief air of calm seep into her once more, a part of her had feared that another strong opponent like the godslayer would have wandered upon them after she had passed out, and their story would have ended in a much different, much sadder manner.

She blinked as she stared at the room, wait, had Rias hesitated when she mentioned Tsubasa?

"Rias… Is Tsubasa alright? Is she –"

Rias shook her head. "She's not dead… she just…"

Sona rose an eyebrow. "Just?"

The fact that her rival's eyes seemed to shift warily instantly made Sona feel incredibly uneasy. Then she stared around at their current residence, and her unease continued to climb.

"Rias… where are we?"

"The Palace of Tails, in the Yokai Realm."

Sona sprang up. "What? Why are we here?"

She did not respond, instead, a brief silence blanketed the duo. Sona sucked in some air. That was never a good sign that was never a positive sign indeed. If the battle and fighting had been completed, why was she here and not at home? Why was Rias here? Visiting perhaps? Though it seemed highly unlikely.

All at once, a key question popped into her head.

"Rias… how long have I been unconscious?"

She managed to give a grimacing smile.

"Two days."

Sona could not help it as the corners of her eyes managed to widen imperceptibly at the information, and she restrained any sorts of emotions from showing on her face. She had been unconscious for two days, two days was a long time, not particularly long by devil standards, as most devils had lengthened lifespans and would live for several hundred years at the least, but it was a long time when taking into account that there had just been a large scale invasion, two days could be the difference between sparking another war or attempting to recover from the previous one.

"What happened? With the invasion?"

Rias had never looked so somber.

"We lost."

* * *

 **~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~**

 **Two Days Earlier**

 **Satan's Theater**

Venelana Gremory stood in silence. To her left, the burning corpse of the goddess known as Hera sizzled with the sound of ever roasting meat, eerily reminding her of the meaty meals that the man in front of her had so gingerly loved to enjoy.

To her right, the goddess known as Hestia was now a pile of ash. The ashes reminded her of how the man in front of her had so easily failed his numerous attempts to prepare the meats himself. Oh he had been naïve, despite having so many servants and well trained cooks, he wanted to do it himself. He had even gone ahead and made claims about how human males enjoyed the 'barbecues' as a form of bonding ritual, and that he would also take it up for fun.

He was soft, and often, she would find herself shaking her head as many people often tried to take advantage of his kindness and generosity. Yet, despite knowing this, he did not care.

"Vanish".

Her tendrils of the Power of Destruction emerged, the purple and black energy turning a charging chimera to ash, and it reminded her of the first time that he had seen her powers. He had gushed over it like a prepubescent school girl with a crush, and then proceeded to enthusiastically cling to her as he had asked for more demonstrations. She let out a small sigh, recalling how she had smacked him over the head, and told him that such a demeanor was unfitting for someone who was the head of a clan.

He had not cared though.

He had never cared, he was a kind person and everything else came second. Often times she had playfully implied that there was a mix-up somewhere, and he was supposed to have been brought into the world as an angel rather than a devil. He took it in stride, with the familiar warmth and overbearing nature of generosity and openness that she had at first hated, but soon grew to love.

"Fall back! Fall back! The gods are upon us!"

"The Satan's Theater has fallen!"

"Protect the youths! Protect the young devils! The Pureblood of the 33 Pillar Clans must survive!"

She had at first hated the fact that she was engaged to such a soft-hearted man, and often at times she had wished nothing more than to end their insufferable union. Strangely enough, he was the type of person who wouldn't even get annoyed if she had done so. He took the traditional values of his clan being benevolent to their servants and family, and then he raised it to a level she had never before seen. She knew, that had he not been the person he was, their children would have ended up in an entirely different way.

Venelana let out a small sigh as she stared at the decapitated head of her husband, Zeoticus Gremory.

"After all your talk you go and die in a place like this."

She shook her head, her hands slowly outstretching to cover the man's eyes.

"I suppose you will not be teaching Rias' children how to use a grill after all."

Her husband's death would mar her children, Rias perhaps more so than Sirzechs, and it further meant that she would have to shoulder a burden she had never bore before.

She sighed. She needed this battle to be over immediately and she needed to return to some peace and normalcy. She needed time to grieve her husband's passing, and more than anything, she wanted to be with her children right now.

"THE SATANS HAVE FALLEN!"

Venelana let out a sardonic laugh. As always, she never got what she wanted.

* * *

"Kal-chan?"

An arrow of light imbedded itself into the eye of a cyclops, the giant creature letting out a pained screech from being blinded.

"Yes Mittelt?"

Two light spears found themselves converging on the creature's throat, imbedding deep within as it's pained screeches turned into incomprehensible gargles.

"Let's _seriously_ have a threesome after this. Me, you, and Ray Ray – you know, if she's alive."

The woman in question dove out of the way of a charging Minotaur, the creature letting out a shrieking roar.

"…No."

Three arrows of light soared out, striking down into the Minotaur and momentarily pinning him in place.

"This is not up for debate Kal-chan. We're doing this."

A sword of the Fallen Angel's dark light clashed with the Minotaur's horns as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Why are you so insistent on this?"

The Minotaur pushed back, the fallen angel's wings flapped, and distance was gained as a long bolt of light struck out, striking the creature between the eyes and between the horns.

"We just might be the last Fallen Angels alive. Well, at least until some other whitey up in heaven realizes that it isn't worth it being all prissy perfect and falls."

Kalawarner stared out into the surrounding city where the Satan's Theater was located, her eyes glancing over the burning buildings, collapsing structures, and numerous blasts of myriads of magic.

"How does this have anything to do with wanting sex?"

Yells of 'fall back!' echoed throughout the distance, with other accompanying ones like 'protect the youths' and 'the theater has fallen.' Kalawarner let out a dry hum.

"Once we do it, we can brag that we once had sex with everyone in an entire race! With everyone in _our_ race! How many people can proudly brag about that?"

Kalawarner squinted, noticing as out in the distance, a figure, coated in white shining armor had arrived, and he had begun laying siege to every enemy in sight, every monster, and every god, and seven others followed.

"First, I do not believe that is something one should be boastful of, second, you do not seem all that concerned with the possibility of our race being all but extinct."

"Meh. I thought about it Kal-chan, and wanted to go all boo hoo until I realized our race hasn't really done much for us. Azazel is too lazy to interfere in most of our stuff and the other Commanders didn't really 'command' anything. Plus, I never got along with tons of them... annoying big breasted cows kept picking on me."

Kalawarner rose an eyebrow at that.

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

"The Gods flee! The Gods flee! The enemy is running! Push forward!"

Kalawarner stared on, noticing as the individual she had identified in white armor had gotten closer and closer to the complex, laying waste to every opponent in sight, and it felt as though he was some sort of Messiah from up above to deliver the devils from their torment.

"H-hey Kal-chan… isn't that –"

She nodded. "The White Dragon Emperor – Vali Lucifer."

The White Dragon Emperor had become the literal Knight in Shining Armor for the devils, swooping down at speeds that left deafening echoes and booms, saving devils from collapsing buildings, rushing the injured to locations with shelter, and generally, it was as though he had become their paragon.

"Um – I thought Kokabiel often said that the Vali kid was a jerk with a sixty foot pole stuck in him."

Kalawarner nodded, her eyes slowly narrowing. "Kokabiel-sama did in fact refer to the White Dragon Emperor as a battle-crazed berserker… this does not add up."

"Hmm… Think it's a coincidence that he showed up right now? When the devils were getting their asses kicked left and right, and he comes in _shining_ in _actual_ armor?"

There was one thing that Kalawarner had rapidly began to notice, which was a rule that applied to the Underworld over and over again.

"There are no coincidences."

* * *

Once the slime girl familiar had shown her the way out and dropped off the little girl with the Yokai King of all people, she had taken her straight to the location of the Satan's Theater, for which Serafall was immensely grateful for.

"I hope I'm not too late."

"Don't worry Fall-chan! Master asked me to ensure you are kept in tip-top shape to help fight against the baddies!"

Serafall managed to let out a small smile, along with a brief shudder she hoped had gone unnoticed. The familiar could heal her, and it was perhaps one of the most effective healing methods that Serafall had seen till date, being able to regenerate even lost limbs. Of course, she just wished that the slime girl's healing process was far less… arousing.

In the end, she had finally found herself at the epicenter of the Satan's Theater.

She arrived just right in time to witness a blade severing Sirzechs head from the rest of his body.

"SIR-"

She had wanted to yell, to charge in, to do _something_ , instead, her entire body was engulfed by the slime girl familiar, as she covered her mouth and turned her invisible.

" _What are you doing?! Let me go – I need to – gagh!_ "

"Dil-chan calculations confirm that there are eight powerful enemies, all equal to or greater in strength than Fall-chan. Dil-chan does not want Fall-chan to die."

Eight enemies?

Now that the slime had mentioned it, Serafall paid extremely close attention to the scene in front of her, and now more than ever, did she notice just who was there.

Clad completely in White Armor was none other than the White Dragon Emperor and surrounding him, were none other than seven individuals dressed in thick, dark cloaks, each of them possessing the name of the classic seven deadly sins.

"Ensure that the heads of the Lucifer and the Beelzebub are kept alive, Maou-sama has no need for them if they're dead." Envy said, the voice coming out like slick oil, in a manner that was sly and irritating.

Serafall's heartbeat fastened. Sirzechs and Ajuka were still alive?

"What is the fate of the Asmodeus?" Lust asked.

"Dead. Arrow to the throat by Artemis herself. Maou-sama has no need for his corpse."

Her heart sank.

"The Vampire King got away. No matter, Vali-kun, you'll simply tell the devils that the Vampire King turned on the Satans and is the one responsible for their 'deaths'. They were tired after slaying the might of the Greek Gods and he used the opportunity to turn on them." Envy said.

"I heard that Azazel escaped as well, and so did Baraqiel."

"Azazel lost both his arms and a leg, he won't get far before he is found, and Baraqiel is a relative nobody. They are not worth concern Vali-kun."

Vali Lucifer let out a dry hum. "And you are certain that the devils will follow me? That they will be willing to revert to a monarchy with myself as king? There are still devils like Diehauser Belial and Sairaorg Bael alive."

"That is exactly why this is a coup Vali-kun. You are a blood descendant of the original Lucifer, the _first_ devil. Once you declare yourself the King of Devils, whoever opposes you must be someone who has to outshine that fact, as well outshine as your deeds in slaying numerous gods and 'saving' hundreds of lives."

Serafall's mind whirled. This – this was a plan to make Vali Lucifer a king? To turn the underworld into a monarchy?

Of course, Serafall would have laughed at the sheer ingenuity of the plan if it would not give her away.

Of the Greek Gods that were not in the Satan's Theater, the rest of the pantheon had gone on a major, continent level rampage on the Devil Faction of the Underworld. This rampage had devastated the land and the lives of countless, numerous individuals, and wiped out the personal armies of the majority of the remaining thirty-three pillar clans. Amidst the smoke, the cries, the begs and pleads for a savior, as people wondered if their Satans had abandoned them, and if they were doomed for utter extinction, one devil had risen to the call.

His name, was Vali Lucifer.

She could already picture how it would be written in the history books.

Rallying with his "peerage" of seven highly capable warriors, Vali Lucifer had been seen in every nook and every cranny of the Underworld, fighting and slaying the tyrannous gods, rescuing the young women from collapsing buildings, and saving innocent boys from destructive attacks, shielding them with his own body in numerous cases.

He had singlehandedly pushed back and killed no fewer than twenty different gods, and slayed no less than a thousand beasts all in the name for his 'gallant' love for his homeland, being a true patriot.

He had eventually arrived at the Satan's Theater located in Lucifaad, and, with nothing but sheer determination to aid and to help his fellow devils, he had fought on, slaying even more gods in his wake, and saving more of his kind.

He had met up with the Satans, intent on valiantly aiding them in their cause against the leaders of the Greek Faction, but alas, he had come too late. The Satan Asmodeus had been killed by an arrow from the Warrior Goddess Artemis, and the Satans Lucifer and Beelzebulb were extremely weakened in their fights against Zeus and Poseidon, and ultimately, they had 'died' after taking down the two powerful gods with them, betrayed by none other than the Vampire King Alucard.

With the last Satan, the Leviathan, missing in action, and there being a huge gap in power with the loss of the Satans in a precarious war time situation, Vali Lucifer had taken charge, spurring the devils on as they chased away every and all traces of the invading Greek monsters.

Considering his bloodline, and his noble actions which would easily have the entirety of the devil race praising his deeds, Vali Lucifer made a brave speech about the strength of their race, pulling all sorts of sophistry with words that could inspire the feeble minded and the weak, channeling their anger, rage and sorrow at the invasion and loss of loved ones, Vali Lucifer, would become their commander.

Then, he would become their General.

And then, their King.

Thus would he be hailed, Slayer of Gods, Vanquisher of Beasts, and Bringer of Light: the King of Devils – Vali Lucifer.

Perfect. It was almost utterly perfect, and had she not felt utterly enraged by it all, she would have clapped at the cunning it took to pull it off.

Her attention was drawn back to the boy as he spoke.

"And the Leviathan? She is the only one who could ruin this plan."

Serafall fought the ill-feeling in her stomach.

"She will be found and slayed." Envy had said with a simple tone.

Vali Lucifer had nodded, his armor then vanishing around him as he looked over the slowly evaporating headless body of Sirzechs Lucifer.

"The Era of Satans is at an end. Now we return to the era of Kings."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~

 **Fallen Angel Territory**

Murayama cursed. She cursed to every deity under the sun, and cursed to whatever gods had decided to take her life and turn it into the most twisted tragedy they could possibly think of.

She found herself staring at the desert in front of her, a large, endless expanse of golden sand which went as far as the eye could see and then went even further. She was stranded in a god-forsaken desert. Stranded, in a ridiculous, god-forsaken desert.

"Fucking hell."

She paused, her nose scrunching up at herself.

When had she started swearing?

She grit her teeth. She found herself feeling angry. It was that bastard's fault no doubt. It was his fault that things had turned this way, his fault that she was stuck in a desert, his fault that she was now an orphan.

She growled as she found herself stomping through the desert.

Why had she saved him? What in the world had possessed her to do that?

She knew the truth, even if she herself would not admit it. She had been at a point where she saw nothing left to do, nothing left to live for, and had just essentially signed up her soul for god knows what. She had done it, done that, just for the sole purpose of becoming a strong swordswoman, of becoming the strongest in the world in order to finally put a smile on Reiji's _fucking_ face.

She growled at herself once more.

Of course, her becoming a devil or demon or _whatever_ she was had not been elaborated on by Sona Sitri, the girl having vanishing for some reason, and instead of being happy at her newfound prowess and ability, she had driven her father even further away from her.

She snorted. Of course he had, it wasn't like an exorcist would be happy if his daughter became one of the very things he fought against, and it wasn't as though their relationship was the best to begin with.

Katase became wary of her for her strength and miraculous recovery, and though the girl claimed to be her _best friend_ , she did not know that with her newly discovered advanced hearing, she could pick up on her conversations. Her 'best friend' was downright _terrified_ of her, completely _envious_ of her, and the only reason she was her friend in the first place, was because the girl wanted to leach off her popularity.

Katase had been envious of her talents since the day they met, and she had carried that envy without ever once voicing it, instead making certain not-so-obvious remarks behind her back that it was because she came from a powerful and ancient clan that she was so strong. Saying that, despite knowing just how badly she trained, just how much she pushed herself to become the best…

She shook her head as she tried to forget the thought. Except she couldn't, when Sona had healed her, her hearing had improved to the point of picking up the gossips of what people said about her. Their initial fear had turned to envy, and then eventually, spite. They lied to her face time and again, and spoke against her behind her back time and again.

Truly, Murayama had felt that there was very little to live for.

She saw no true reason to continue to exist, and the only reason she hadn't taken her own life was because it would be utterly ungrateful of her to do so. After Sona had offered her a new chance, turning around and saying 'no thanks' would be too disgraceful, far too disgraceful.

Then, the world had provided her with an injured, foulmouthed individual who was supposedly a wanted terrorist.

It had been too good to be true.

Killing herself would be disgraceful, but if someone _else_ had killed her – now, that would be something else entirely.

She had been expecting him to kill her the second he regained his strength, or perhaps to assault her, in which she could then have a justification for taking her own life.

She had even asked him to teach her, hoping perhaps for some 'training' accident. However with each and every passing day the man had done neither, her suicidal thoughts had decreased, it had lessened and lessened until somehow it had all but gone. It was hard to keep thinking about killing yourself when you had to chase a guy jerking off to you in the showers, blowing up your microwave in attempts to make dinner, and constantly beating the crap out of you in spars with an infuriating cocky grin. So, she found herself begrudgingly in the company of a lunatic serial killer.

She let out a bitter laugh. What a great story she would tell to the vultures that would prey down and eat out her eyeballs as she died wandering this golden desert.

If only she had decided to steer clear of him that day and let him die in the back alley, a nameless nobody.

Except… had she done that, she would have never found out the truth from her father. And she would have most likely been killed.

He was an utterly irredeemable bastard.

But he had saved her life.

He had killed her father.

But only because her father wanted her dead.

He had been a psychopath and mass murderer.

But he seemed to have cared for people, or at least children, because his own father had sold his mother to a demon for wealth.

He had repeated peeped on her body and even outright openly masturbated to her.

Which could have probably been his own twisted way of showing affection. She snorted, it wasn't like his dead mother or his scumbag father had the chance to teach him the fine arts of courting women.

She had often slept with her blade underneath her pillow, more as an accessory to her suicidal thoughts than a genuine means of self-defense. If she was going to die, she did not want it to appear as though she had not gone out without a fight.

Still, she had been expecting each and every night to be the one in which he tried to force himself on her. A part of her would never admit that the uncertainty and adrenaline had been one of the few things that had given her a sense of purpose to keep on living, and slowly washed off the more negative thoughts.

Then, came the night he had snuck in and she had expected it to finally be the day it all ended.

He had shuffled around in her room, her breath lay hitched as he moved over to her body, as she slept in a plain shirt and a pair of shorts.

Then, his hand had outstretched, and she had grasped for the sword under her pillow with baited breath.

Only for Freed to lay a blanket over her body, tuck it into the bed properly as he turned around, flicked the lights off and left without a single word.

Murayama came to a stop.

Why had she remembered that? Why did that matter? So what if he had his good moments, he never changed, never admitted that killing people was wrong never done anything to even indicate that he wanted to become a better person. And he killed her father! And he was an utterly irredeemable monster! He was! And –

And –

And he was dead, so why did she care?

Why was she still thinking about him?

Why was her vision blurry?

Why were her cheeks wet?

* * *

 **Fort Goetia**

 **Fallen Angel Territory**

Issei blinked, feeling as all his strength left him, as he stared at the remains of the Fallen Angel Territory. He had escaped from the collapsing ruins of the Midas Complex, only to stare at the utter state of destruction that lay before him, and but a further, deep, sinking feeling into his stomach.

 _Ping!_

 **You were unable to complete all the objectives of the Main Quest - God Delusion.**

 **Kill the Anomaly 'Kratos' - Completed [By Romantic Interest]**

 **Rescue Serafall Leviathan - Completed [By Familiar]**

 **Prevent the Divine War - Failed [The Greek Pantheon still attacked the Underworld]**

 **You have failed the Quest.**

Issei paid no heed to the notification, instead, his eyes lay ahead.

"T-this wasn't supposed to happen –"

There they were, hands and bodies lay sticking out of a desert of golden sand, all of them, turned to nothing but sheer golden statues. Issei held back the twist in his gut as he stared, a frozen silhouette of a mother who covering her child, of a pair of children, attempting to scramble away with mouths wide open, and of two lovers, eternalized in a passionate embrace.

It would have been the greatest artistic masterpiece ever created, a desert of gold, and within it, golden angels, immortalized. Until the horrific realization seeped in, that every frozen statue had been a living, breathing person, and this was the manner in which they had died.

"H-how…? W-why?"

He had successfully beaten Midas. He had ended the man's invasion, he was supposed to be celebrating a victory.

This, this was an utter loss.

 _All of this is your fault._ It was the voice of Darkness again, coming back smoothly, with a gently feminine tone like slicked oil, and Issei tried to bite it back.

"Shut up."

 _None of this is because you lack power? No… it's because you have fear. Because you are afraid._ The voice all but poured into his ear, and he found himself gritting his teeth.

"Shut up. You don't know what you're saying."

 _Do I?_ The voice sounded amused, _Perhaps, you are right. After all, I'm not the one stepping on the golden corpse of a child now am I?_

Issei stared down at his feet, his eyes widening as he scrambled back, landing in the fine gold sand with a heavy thump, as he stared ahead of him, to what he had been standing on, the back of a small statue.

 _There is no denying this truth. We have a hand in this, inadvertently or not, our hands are stained._ The voice of Logic returned, a slow, somber tone. Issei grit his teeth, doubly so because the voice in his head that was meant to be his source of reason was agreeing with the psychopathic one.

"Shut up."

 _Why did any of this have to happen? Because you failed to inform the Satans about all you knew, about Midas' army, about his Midas Complex._ Logic said, sighing. _You did all of this, because you knew that they would get suspicious about your sources – about your powers._

"Shut up! There's no guarantee that this wouldn't have happened either way if I had told them – they can't enter the Midas Complex anyway!"

 _You honestly believe that between Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebulb, they would not have found a way? No._ Logic said, tone cold as ice. _You were more worried with their thoughts, as to how could it be that a mere human entered a Complex designed only for gods? You were already on thin ice explaining away most of your abilities as that of Ddraig's, so there was that lingering fear within you. The fear of exposing the secret of the Exodus Switch. The fear of revealing to them all that you are stuck in some mad temporal loop, and that this loop is your fault._

"Shut. Up."

 _It has always been at the back of your mind hasn't it? The anomalies are your fault. Maybe if you had gotten it right the first time, ended this farce of a videogame in your first attempt, then none of this would happen. That guilt, that lingering guilt still carries over and made you believe you save the world alone, that this was your problem, and you would fix it, keeping everyone in the dark about it._

" _Shut up."_

 _This same reason is why you failed to inform Sona about the anomalies, because you don't feel it's her problem, that it's not her burden. That you would fix it, and that you alone could make things right; that you could do it alone._

The voice of Logic warped, and soon, Issei realized that he was hearing the familiar voice of Darkness.

 _You were wrong._

"Shutupshutupshutupshutup!"

He panted, feeling himself grow extremely tired, even more so than usual. He had successfully beaten Midas, but for what

"Kukuku… having problems Issei-kun, or is it Red Dragon Emperor?"

A cold, somewhat slimy voice that Issei could not help but shiver at the tone echoed, and the Gamer turned, finding himself staring at a young boy, shirtless with a scarf, with yellowish looking snake-eyes and looking all too intimidating, as there was an unconscious woman held by the hair in his left hand.

 **Immortal Serpent**

 **Demon Overlord**

 **Orochimaru Lv. ?**

Issei's gaze turned red. "YOU!"

 **BOOST!**

 **BOOST!**

 **BOOST!**

 **You have been Boosted to Level 1200!**

A miniature sandstorm of gold dust kicked up from where his feet had disconnected with the golden desert, and as he lunged at Orochimaru, eyes blazing, fist fully cocked back –

'CRITICAL STRIKE!'

His fist lunged forward.

As though a titan had clapped its hands together, a shockwave of pressure emitted from the point of contact in the form of a massive sphere. The resulting gust blew the golden sand in all directions, sending the miniature particles racing away from the epicenter at subsonic speeds.

Issei grit his teeth, staring at the man in front of him who looked utterly amused, as he had rose up his _pinky_ and stopped his punch cold.

Issei's eyes narrowed as he gave the man the coldest glare he could possibly muster.

"Kukuku… such hate Issei-kun. What ever did I do to deserve such a heated glare?"

Issei snarled, bringing up his second arm, and lunging it straight towards Orochimaru's face.

"Ah, I think that's enough of that."

 **MASSIVE KILLING INTENT DETECTED!**

It was like fighting Kurama all over again, and Issei could do nothing but swear as he found himself hit by a wave of killing intent so deeply concentrated, it might have well as been pure, unbridled gravitational energy.

He collapsed to the desert, head first as he spat out the golden sands that entered his mouth.

"Civilized individuals communicate with their mouths and not their fists, wouldn't you agree Issei-kun?"

Issei growled. "You? Civilized?"

He let out a smile. "But of course."

It was from his position on the ground that Issei finally took note of the unconscious woman placed in his hands.

 **Black Cat**

 **Kuroka Lv. ?**

On noting his gaze, Orochimaru chuckled. "Ah, I see where the confusion might come from. I suppose the manner in which I am holding her would be unsatisfactory for someone such as yourself. Fear not, she was merely caught snooping around my territory, and I simply knocked her unconscious."

Orochimaru gently placed the woman onto the ground, before he turned back to Issei.

"Kukuku…Now then. I must say I am impressed, despite never before seeing me, you somehow were able to recognize me on sight."

Issei's stomach felt as though it was about to sink, and rather than answer him, he needed to change the topic immediately.

"You're the one responsible for all of this! I heard it from Hades himself!"

The man let out a long dry sigh.

"Yes, I am. I have already explained this to the Leviathan and I am not fond of repeating myself."

He had explained this to Serafall? When had they met? Issei shook his head, realizing that he had control over his neck and cranium, and attempted to utilize Telekinesis.

 _Ping!_

 **Error! Target is immune to telekinetic attacks.**

The Gamer swore underneath his breath.

Orochimaru seemed amused. "Still struggling Issei-kun? I suppose you are deserving of points for effort, but I should make it clear that you have no hope against me."

Issei scoffed. "So what, you want me to just sit down and watch as another crazy maniac begins his plans for world domination?"

"Domination is such an ugly word. I prefer _optimization_."

"What?"

"As we speak, Vali-kun has most likely handled the remaining Satans, and will eventually establish himself as the new King of the Underworld. With him, I shall begin my plans to revolutionize the species as we know it."

" _Revolutionize?_ "

Orochimaru let out a sigh. "Technology has advanced to such great heights, and the devils have so many valuable resources that could forever change the world. Yet, despite this, these resources are either underutilized or abandoned, because the Satans are lenient and bend to the whims of the devils beneath them."

Orochimaru shook his head. "They are too soft, and the devils too greedy and shortsighted. With them out of the way, I can begin advancements that will change everything."

Issei scoffed once more. "Like what?"

"Tell me, does the notion of devils in space not interest you?"

Issei actually blinked. "You – you're kidding."

His eyes held no mirth. "No, no I am not."

It rained silence.

"Despite the world being occupied with beings faster than the planet's escape velocity, no one, not one devil or god or demon has even envisioned the idea of advancing beyond the stars. Of venturing through space, discovering entirely new planets, solar systems, and galaxies."

Orochimaru shook his head.

"I am a scientist first and foremost, and on attaining immortality I have spent _millions_ of years on this planet, studying every lifeform and every bacteria, every animal and every plant. It is my desire to advance this planet's technology sufficiently to find other worlds with inimitable things to study. The devils possess the essential technology, and I intend to utilize it."

"Then why kill all the Fallen Angels? How does this aid your plan?"

"Kukuku… My goal is the optimization of the world. I intend to evolve the species of devils and angels, to do so, the Fallen are not needed."

Issei grit his teeth, finding himself confused. "Why – why are you telling me any of this?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"Is it not evident? I wish for you to join me."

"W-what?"

"I can tell that you are not an idiot, Issei-kun, and I can see that the notion of travelling the stars also entertains you. Why not then join me?"

"Join you?"

"Of course. If it is peace for the world you pursue, I can assure you know that it can be attained. World hunger? I can terminate it within days. Poverty? Upon finding inhabitable planets, I shall build utopian empires and these empires need people. Disease and sickness? Inconsequential, turning all of humanity into devils will make them immune, and further increase their lifespans."

"Until you decide that the people are _not needed_ and decide to kill them all of again."

Orochimaru blinked. "Pardon?"

"You were willing and able to commit _genocide_ in the name of optimization of the world. What's to stop you from doing it again?"

Orochimaru actually laughed. "There would be no need. As I said, the Fallen Angels were an unnecessary race, hence, a necessary sacrifice to advance –"

"Necessary sacrifice? Thousands of lives, of innocents men, women, children – all gone!"

His hands outstretched in an open manner. "And the universe did not even notice."

Issei found himself snarling. "You're a monster."

"Am I? Think well Issei-kun. History is written by the victors and not the vanquished. Do you believe that this is the first time millions have been killed and an entire race has been wiped out?"

Orochimaru's tone instantly went harsh.

"Do not be so naïve. Even the so called angels who are paragons of righteousness, have killed their _millions_. The deity that they revere as the symbol of Omnibenevolence has endorsed everything from infanticide to some of the most barbaric massacres mankind has ever seen."

"That doesn't justify what you've done!"

"Do you even know the names of _any_ of these people? Did you ever so much as interact with them? Talk to them?"

The question had caught Issei off guard. "What does that have to –"

Orochimaru tapped his forehead. "I have their names stored here. Their ages, relaxations, disinclinations, fixations, and acquaintances. In order to inspect for any irregularities, for any which showed potential or latent talents that would be inefficient to destroy, I collected information about an entire _race._ I do not think Genghis Khan or Hitler bothered knowing the names of everyone that died at their hands."

Issei's mouth closed with a dry clack.

"I recognize the value of life, Red Dragon Emperor, and I am not a genocidal maniac. Why are you trying so hard to sound deeply offended by their deaths? It sound less as though you care about their lives and more as if you are merely trying to convince yourself that you do."

"I'm not –" Issei found himself somehow unable to complete the words. He could not complete the words because he felt the Fallacy skill about to activate, and that would mean he was lying. He was lying to Orochimaru, and more importantly, he was lying to himself.

Orochimaru then let out a sigh. "If it is the ethics that so bother you, then interpret it in this manner. For every life I have ended today, I will save ten more. The poor, the starving, the sick, the dying – I will be saving them all."

Issei's mind was whirling.

"You cannot defeat me and any attempts at dissenting will be a minor annoyance at best, and a futile effort at worst. Tell me then, what true reason do you have to refuse my offer?"

 _Because you're supposed to be an anomaly_. Issei wanted to say, and he wanted to go onto the explanation as to how it was foretold that the Anomalies would one way or another, inadvertently bring about the end of the world. Except, with Orochimaru's goals, the end of the world could merely refer to the end of _earth_ and if they did in fact find other inhabitable planets, then the destruction of the earth was no longer such a huge deal.

 _Because you've committed genocide once._ Issei wanted to use this, but it would not be a valid reason for him. It was selfish, and it was wrong, but the deaths of numerous Fallen Angels truly did not bother him. A million was a statistic, and so far as the only three he actually knew and cared about were safe, then he was suitably satisfied. Except that was wrong – that was wrong on so, so many levels, if anyone he cared about had been killed, then he would have turned down the offer with a burning rage.

 _Because I just can't._ Why? Why couldn't he? Orochimaru had no goals to destroy the world. He wasn't interested in conflicts or wars, and his goals were generally intended to advance civilization and evolve all beings. Compared to some of the more egotistical people that wanted wars in order to make the world stronger (Kokabiel) or wanted to kill people because he didn't agree with their way of life (Midas) Orochimaru was the most sane. If his methods worked, did the route he used actually matter?

"If," Issei tested the word " _If,_ I join you, what about my friends? I have three Fallen Angels as my companions, and the rest of them, what happens to them?"

' _Hyoudou Issei, you cannot seriously be contemplating the offer of this maniac!_ ' Ddraig's voice roared and Issei winced at the intensity.

Orochimaru smiled. "Your Fallen Angel companions can join you as well, and so can as many of the concubines you have. I have no issue with it."

' _He's LYING – you have no reason to trust him or believe anything he says, Issei, think about this –'_

"How do I know you aren't lying about this? About making the world a better place, or about your plans to travel to space?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "I have no reason to lie. If I desired you dead, your head would be rolling on this floor. If I desired you my minion, you would be moping lavatories as I speak. The sheer gap in our power is so great that I do not _need_ to lie to you."

There was a deep, resounding silence.

' _Issei – don't you da–'_

' _Shut up Ddraig, I know what I'm doing.'_

Darkness let out a shrill laugh. _Yes little dragon, flee, for it is time for Issei to realize that the only thing holding him back is his own foolish ideals and fears. The end justifies the means and that is the heart of the matter._

"Well then? What is your answer?"

The world around Issei immediately stopped, time standing still as everything began losing color, turning to a dull, pale grey.

 _PING!_

 **Ultimatum** **–** **The Serpent's Offer**

 **You have been presented with an ultimatum that will greatly alter the story and even your alignment, depending on the choice selected.**

 **Orochimaru has offered to take you under his wing as you aid in his goal of creating a spacefaring race of devils and optimizing the world. You are allowed to extend this offer to your current colleagues and acquaintances, however, they may or may not accept.**

 **Your Options are:**

 **[Join Orochimaru] – You join immortal the Snake Sage, assume a respectable rank in the new Monarchist Government of the devil underworld and proceed to work together in an attempt to make the world a far better place, and eventually explore the stars.**

 **WARNING: Choosing this option will block certain quests permanently, blacklist you from certain activities, and make you an enemy of numerous factions and/or individuals.**

 **[Refuse Orochimaru] – You turn down his the immortal's offer and attempt to survive or flee as he decides to terminate your existence. If you survive, you are blacklisted from the devil underworld and will be forced to wage a rebellious war against the Monarchist Government.**

 **[Neutral Response] – [Locked] – Orochimaru accepts no neutral answers.**

 **[Chaotic Response] – ? ? ? ?**

 **WARNING: Choosing this option will have the effects as choosing the first, as only you are aware of the specifics of decision. This option will also block certain quests permanently, blacklist you from certain activities, and make you an enemy of numerous factions and/or individuals.**

 _Yes…_

Issei let out a sigh. This was it, this was supposedly the moment of truth. Perhaps if he were stronger, then maybe, perhaps not so much. He was tired of constantly having to convince himself that he was the good guy, that he was strong and had morals. That he wasn't slowly slipping…

 _Yes…_

Now, he no longer had to convince himself of anything.

 _Ping!_

 **You have chosen to join Orochimaru.**

The world exploded into color.

 _DARKNESS WINS!_

* * *

 ** _Dum dum duuumm!_ Join the dark side! We have cookies!**

 **Cough. Inappropriate. Cough.**

 **So... who's ready for an evil Akatsuki-style Issei with the Seven Deadly Sins? (I'm Kidding... Or am I?)**

 **In any case, I am genuinely curious to know something, which I shall ask my readers. If in Issei's shoes and given this offer, what choice would you make? (Assuming you were NOT aware of the numerous monstrosities Orochimaru committed in Canon).**

 **Kindly Read and Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	30. Intermission: Omake Files

**Last chapter was intense, so much in fact that I absolutely adored reading the numerous different perspectives and ideas of different reviewers. If you are like me and enjoy perusing different people's views of morality, then hop over to the review section for some interesting reads. In any case, this is not a chapter but a brief intermission before we return to the story, can't have things looking to grim now can we?**

* * *

 **INTERMISSION: OMAKE FILES PART 1**

 **If Issei Had Chosen the Chaotic Option.**

* * *

 **[You have selected the Chaotic Option]**

"Well then Issei-kun, what is your answer?"

There was a deep, resounding silence.

"Waffles."

Orochimaru blinked. "What?"

"Waffles."

"I do not understa –"

"Waffles Waffles Waffles!"

"That is not coherent in any wa –"

"Waffles! Waffles Waffles Waffles! Waffles Waffles Waffles!"

"Enough! If you do not answer me then I will –"

"Waaaafuuulllssss! Waaaaafuuuuulllls!"

Orochimaru gaped, staring as the ground around him began to sing and chant.

"Waffles! Waffles! Waffles!"

Orochimaru got on his knees as the golden desert elevated Issei upwards, the boy standing on a patch of golden sand designed as the famous waffles.

"This – you are right Hyoudou Issei! How could I not have seen the way?!"

Issei grinned. "Waffles."

"The earth is not round nor is it flat, it is a waffle!"

Issei nodded. "Waffles."

"That is right! Now, we will turn all of humanity into waffles, and send them into space!"

"Waf- _what?_ "

"All hail the waffles!"

* * *

 **[You have selected the Chaotic Option]**

"Well then Issei-kun, what is your answer?"

The Gamer remained silent, a thick, vast blanketing silence until Orochimaru blinked in confusion.

Hyoudou Issei let out a chuckle as his face kissed the golden sand.

"Your offer is perfect Orochimaru, almost too perfect. I can see myself following you, becoming your minion, and even exploring the stars together, but there's only one thing you forgot. One thing you did not expect."

Orochimaru glared. "And what would that be?"

Issei gestured his that the man bring his head closer, and closer, until Orochimaru humored him as the Gamer's mouth was directly next to his ear.

"NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!"

"W-w-ha?"

Trumpets and horns blew in the distance, as the charging forces of the Spanish Inquisition let out a rallying battle cry.

"H-how is this – "

The split moment of confusion was all Issei needed to slip into his instant dungeon and get away.

And Orochimaru stood peeved, as the charging armies dissipated and he realized they were an illusion caused by bent light waves.

"But how did light waves have sound?"

From that day on, Orochimaru spent his time in his study, researching on how it was possible for light to make sound, and sounds to have light, before giving up and resorting to LSD and Weed, becoming the first ever Demon Lord hippie.

He and his high as hell demon army then proceeded to ravage the land, spreading the goodness of hallucinogenic drugs.

* * *

 **[You have selected the Chaotic Option]**

"Well then Issei-kun, what is your answer?"

The Gamer remained silent, a thick, vast blanketing silence until Orochimaru blinked in confusion.

"W-why are you farting rainbows?"

"You're a fool if you think I am merely farting rainbows Orochimaru! This is nothing more than the process by which I am summoning the greatest, most evil being in the universe that will stop you!"

The rainbow farts began to grow larger and larger, until there was an explosion of rainbow colored clouds, and Orochimaru coughed slightly as he waved the clouds away and realized that there was now someone else standing there.

"No –"

A horrific nose and distorted head like that of a pitcher.

"W-what is this monstrosity?!"

Partially balding, pot-bellied, and lacking any sense of decency.

'This – this is the true face of evil Orochimaru! This is your doom!"

The creature stalked forward, and then his head spun three-hundred and sixty degrees before he laughed.

Then he spoke.

"Hiya kids! I'm Uncle Grandpa! I'm your uncle _and_ your grandpa!"

Orochimaru screamed.

"DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE! EVERYTHING MUST DIE! THE WORLD MUST BE CLEANSED OF THIS EVIL!"

* * *

 **[You have selected the Chaotic Option]**

"Well then Issei-kun, what is your answer?"

The Gamer remained silent, a thick, vast blanketing silence until Orochimaru blinked.

"I'm sure you were expecting Hyoudou Issei to answer you."

All at once, Issei began to sparkle, his body turning incredibly handsome, muscles bulging and eyes glistening.

"But no! It was me, DIO!"

* * *

 **[You have selected the Chaotic Option]**

"Well then Issei-kun, what is your answer?"

The Gamer remained silent, a thick, vast blanketing silence until Orochimaru blinked.

A large echoing roar came out from the distance, and from the golden sands rose a simian savior, a leader, a hero, and the most powerful deity in existence.

"I-it cannot be…"

Issei smirked. "It is."

The ape like creature banged his chest and roared, regarding Orochimaru a cold look.

" **Kneel before Harambe.** "

* * *

Gamer Information Panel

 **Issei's Level: 150**

 **Max Level [With Boosted Gear]: 2400**

 **Issei's Current Skillsets**

 **Jashinist Techniques** **[Active & Passive] Lv. Max**

 **A collection of skills and abilities granted upon you by the Carnality God Jashin, which allow you to manipulate not only the blood, but the carnal natures and desires of your opponents. Passively Grants +50% Effectiveness to "Instinctiveness" and Grants +100% Effectiveness to All Five Senses.**

 **Note: Extra Skills for this Skill Tree may be Unlocked, Discovered or Created.**

 **Blood Voodoo** **[Active] Lv. 4: Also known as the Cursed Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood. This turns you into a living Voodoo doll, and any damage you receive is also received on your opponent. This however, can also be used for pleasurable purposes, in that shared connection between individuals to double and experience utterly different sensations. At Max levels, you can connect up to twenty people at once with this technique, and only need to shed blood rather than ingest it for it to work.**

 **Blood Impulse** **[Active] Lv. Max: This enables you to tap into the deepest, darkest and most pleasurable or sinful desire of your target, and unlock any inhibition preventing them from accomplishing it, or do the opposite and prevent them from acting on their desires. When used on a battlefield, your enemies will forgo all form of logic and perform the most heinous and sickening acts. When used in the bedroom, you can guarantee either very kinky or very twisted sex.**

 **Blood Marionette** **[Active] Lv. 9: Unlike Blood Voodoo in which experiences are shared, Blood Marionette enables you to manipulate the blood of your foes, either slowing it down or speeding it up within their body, or clumping it to torture them and even control them. At max levels, you can boil or freeze their blood for instant death.**

 **Blood Clone** **[Active] Lv. 32: You sacrifice 50% of your current available health to create a solid, tangible clone of yourself. The clone does not possess autonomy, and you must control it mentally, but can experience the world through the clones' eyes, ears and nose. Once the clone is killed, the body will last at least four hours before evaporating. At Max Levels, the health requirement is reduced, you can create more clones and grant the clones autonomy.**

 **Carnality Incarnate [Active]:** **The ultimate skill to prove your dedication to Lord Jashin. Simply releasing your aura will cause every sentient creature within a two-hundred mile radius to either engage in a brutal, chaotic massacre, or a wild, erotic orgy. [** **LOCKED** **] – Requires Attaining Max Level in All Jashinist Skill Trees. Requires Chaotic Evil Alignment.**

 **Shadow Control** **[** **Active & Passive] Lv. Max**

 **This is a skill that grants the User control over shadows limited only by the user's own imagination. Passively increases Dark Magic affinity, Passively increases Demonic Magic affinity, Grants a 25% increase in Dexterity when fighting in darkness, passively makes the user near-invisible when cloaked in dark or hidden by the shadows.**

 **Sub-Skills:**

 **Shadow Step** **[Active] Lv. 45: No one can move faster than their shadow. No one, except you; this skill grants the user the ability to travel through shadows via the shadow realm, entering one shadow and coming out from another one. The user can also instantly travel to the shadow of a location he has previously visited, or through the shadow of an ally the user is intimately familiar with. The higher the level, the smaller the shadows the user will be able to travel through and the faster the speed of the transportation.**

 **Shadow Possession** **[Active] Lv. 50: Similar to the Nara Clan of old, you are able to incapacitate your enemies by connecting your shadow to theirs, making them do your bidding and mimic every move you make. This skill inflicts either (Weaken) status effect or (Mimicry) status effect on enemies. However, at lower levels, enemies with strong will or enemies who are vastly superior in level to you are immune. The higher the level of the skill, the greater the control and efficiency of Shadow Bind against tougher foes.**

 **Shadow Bind** **[Active] Lv. 71: You summon tendrils of shadows to rise up from the ground and tie up your enemies, - though it can also be used to tie up your friends if you're into that sort of thing. Inflicts (Immobilized) status effect on enemies. At higher levels, the tendrils become stronger and more durable and can be manipulated to any length or thickness, creating new and intriguing ways to capture your enemies (or friends).**

 **Shadow Anchor** **[Active] Lv. 92: You weigh down the shadow of your enemies or of objects, inflicting upon them the (Slowed) status effect as they find it incredibly difficult to move or be moved. At higher levels, the skill will incapacitate all but only the strongest of enemies.**

 **Shade Screen** **[Active] Lv. 30: You glance into an enemy's eyes and temporarily rob them of their ability to see light, leaving them only able to see nothing but darkness as their companion. Inflicts the (Blinded) Status effect on enemies, and at higher levels, it increases the duration of the effect as well as makes the afflicted party see nightmarish visions in the darkness.**

 **Shadow Palm** **[Active] Lv. 69: Shape your shadows into a fist to punch out your opponents lights, into a soft hand to suffocate them or into a vicious claw to rake out their eyes.**

 **Shadow Creatures** **[Active] Lv. 60: You can manipulate your shadows to form corporeal beasts that heed your commands and attack any of your enemies in sights. You can currently create bipedal mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. Their effective range away from you is a hundred feet.**

 **Mind Over Matter [Active and Passive] Lv. Max**

 **A collection of skills that Grant Powers over the mind.**

 **Telekinesis [Active] Lv. 31:** **This is the literal ability to move objects with your mind. The weight of objects you can lift at the moment cannot exceed that of a full grown male elephant, and the most force you can exert with it is only capable of crushing boulders. Current maximum range is ten feet.**

 **Inception [Active] Lv. 11:** **This skill enables you to implant thoughts suggestions and ideas into someone else's mind, and make them believe it as though it were true, and as though they were the ones who thought of it. At higher levels, Inception will work on all but the strongest of enemies, and has lower chances of breaking.**

 **Inveigle [Active] Lv. 60:** **Through artful flattery, you cast a spell upon your target that will make them trust your words and actions, and also make them believe that you are a life-long friend, confidant, or even lover, easily divulging their most sacred secrets to you without restraint, or becoming willing to do anything you ask.**

 **Requirement: Your combined Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma modifiers must be higher than or equal to that of your target. Alternatively, there is a higher chance of success if the target has been weakened by other psychological status effects.**

Issei's Most Referenced Perks:

 **Master Steel Skin [Passive] Lv. Max:** **This provides an invisible, epidermal layer of bio-electric energy which covers your entire body, granting you a 95% physical damage resistance and grants your skin the durability of masterwork diamonds! Impress your friends by stabbing your hand with a knife and watching the knife break!**

 **Note: This** _ **literally**_ **grants your skin the durability of masterwork forged diamonds. So any force capable of bending or breaking such diamonds will also be capable of damaging you.**

 **Master Assassin's Grace:** **Your movements are deft, fine-tuned and exact. You do not waste motion, you do not waste purpose, and clumsiness is but a myth to you. Grants Enhanced Reflexes and Faster-Than-Thought Reaction Times in which your perception of time is slowed to a crawl in order to respond to threats.**

 **Perfect Vision: Exactly what it says on the tin. Also, can breakdown, understand and then copy fighting styles or certain techniques after repetitively seeing it in action.**


	31. Confrontation

**As of this chapter I have 1984 Reviews. That number brings me more giddiness than you can possibly imagine. Anyway, I would like to formally thank you all for allowing this story to reach such a level, as such, I am going to tell you all now the Chapter count. It is Sixty-Two. That is right, in about thirty chapters from now, all overarching plots will meet their resolution and this story will be completed.**

 **I know it seems far off, but my goal is to complete this story before this year ends, and with six months left, you can tell what that entails.**

 **As always, thank you all for reading, through the good, and through the bad, and for sticking with me all the way. You guys are the best.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 29:**

 **Confrontation**

* * *

Issei had maxed out his Fallacy Skill.

It was simple in hindsight, technically exploiting loopholes upon loopholes in order to make sure that whatever words he uttered where smooth, and the lies he told were even smoother. Utilizing Blood Marionette to constantly control his own heart rate, staring into the mirror for hours in order to perfect his Poker Face and ensure that not even the slightest inflections of his voice could give away the fact that he was lying. The Razor Tongue perk also helped, it helped incredibly much in allowing the words come out suave and elegant, in being able to inspire the right levels of sophistry in order to ensure that the words that came out from his mouth were the absolute truth.

Abstractly, he noted, the Fallacy skill was aptly named, as it was not necessarily lying, but rather, manipulating the truth to fit his arguments. There were numerous manners in which this could be done, from convincing someone that an action was in their best interest, to discrediting negative facts and focusing solely on the positive, to enhancing the appeal of an offer.

Yet, despite how much he had emphasized on finally attaining a complete mastery of his fallacy skill, he found himself uttering the truth when the time came.

Not the whole truth, as there were aspects that had to remain secret as per Orochimaru's instruction, but others, were mostly the truth he had spoken, believing it to be the wisest choice.

It was not.

 _SLAP!_

The resounding smack that he had received straight in the face from Rias had been one that he had barely felt, his Master Steel Skin perk making it sting even less than a mosquito bite. But the aim was clear, it was not meant to be a hurtful attack, but a symbolic gesture.

"My father and my brother are dead and you want me to _join_ the people responsible?"

Blandly, he noted as to how her eyes had turned to him and viewed him with the most hatred she could quite possibly conjure.

It had been a mere sixteen hours after the invasion, and Orochimaru had given him the necessary time to gather all those he felt would be his allies, as his offer extended to them. So he had gathered them all at the Gremory Territory, and here he decided to lay it clean.

And so he stood before them, or at least, before a vast number of them, and he had spoken the truth.

Ideally, foolishly, he had spoken the truth rather than feed them with lies. He had made his choice, believing that the truth would be the most ideal option, that it would be the most appropriate option, as lies never ended well.

This choice of course went against every fiber of his being and his mind, especially one that now heavily suppressing concepts such as guilt, remorse and restraint. One would think that accepting Darkness would mean turning into a psychopathic killer, except Issei was not stupid. No, he had never been stupid. To allow a single persona total domination over his entire psyche was to invite ruin and disaster. Instead, in that split moment as he made his choice and as he felt the parts of him that wanted nothing more than unrestrained bloodlust shoot forth, Issei had accepted the rest of his persona.

He had accepted Darkness.

He had accepted Carnality.

He had accepted Logic.

There were no voices left in his head.

Instead, his mind now a constant paradox, consumed with desires to kill culled by desires to enjoy the flesh culled by the realization that both of those things were only to be done when utterly optimal.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the manner in which one looked at it, Issei felt that there was no longer any reason to restrain his intellect. There was no reason to limit the true capacities of his brainpower, as he now utilized all of his intelligence. Whereas he had been expecting something grand upon doing this, like finding the secrets of the universe, and gaining the power to time travel with nothing but his thoughts and suddenly seeing and manipulating sound waves (like that was feasibly possible) instead, all he had gained was an overwhelming level of clarity which aided in curbing the thoughts of murder.

Ironically, it was only upon doing this that he had seen no fewer than a hundred different ways to have escaped Orochimaru and turned down his offer. A rather odd catch 22 situation, had he not accepted the offer, he would not have gained the means to know how to escape from it.

Option A was to have entered his Illusionary Dungeon, which took nothing but a brief mental command. From there enter the Shadow Realm.

However with the possibility that Orochimaru could also enter his Instant Dungeons, or close it before he could open it, Option B was to feint, utilize the Blood Clone technique, and substitute himself with it. He was certain that yelling 'The Spanish Inquisition' in Orochimaru's face would have thrown the man for a loop, even if said loop was in mere nanoseconds.

Option C was his Astral Projection skill learnt by Cloud that he had never seen the need to use. This worked on the assumption that he would be able to return to his body, and that Orochimaru would not detect him using it, both of which were plausible but untestable.

Option D was an amalgamation of A and B, in which he would have farted Rainbows using Iris' powers while yelling 'The Spanish Inquisition'. A seemingly useless tactic that would have made the man raise his eyebrows, but which Issei could use to alter light around himself, casting an illusion as he re-attempted option A.

All of these had however ran on the basis that Orochimaru could indeed be surprised, which Issei had previously tested. The man had paused in his dialogue for a brief second when Issei had mentioned that he could commit genocide once more if he did it once. The only flaw perhaps, would be that Issei could not see how he would escape unscathed – Orochimaru's reflex speed made it as though he was stopping time, and Issei had no doubt that the man could kill individuals who could _actually_ stop time, using nothing but sheer impulse.

Inconsequential however, because regardless of how badly he was injured, he possessed a familiar capable of regenerating lost limbs and healing all wounds.

He simply had to have ensured that he was not decapitated. There was a chance he could survive being dissected at the waist. A rather small chance, but a chance nonetheless.

Arguably, he had been too consumed by guilt and grief at that moment to think things rationally. Gamer's Mind had already been stretched to whatever limits it had, and Issei knew from his experience with Dohnaseek that the skill was far from faultless.

Speaking of being far from faultless, Issei felt peeved that his decision to at least, partially be honest with his companions had been the wrong one. He had assumed that they would benefit more from the honesty in the long run than they would from lies, and he had been anticipating their reactions.

Their responses had been less than optimal.

"Ara ara… I am afraid I cannot see the merit in joining you, as I am Rias' Queen, I go where she goes."

Akeno had chosen to stay with Rias. Understandable, given Akeno's own personal feelings and her unflinching loyalty. He also assumed that being part fallen angel had something to do with her decision.

"You sicken me senpai."

Koneko, originating from being a Nekomata, and then being the even rarer, near-extinct species of Nekoshou, was far too disgusted at the concept of Genocide, and as such, her disgust transferred over to him. Regardless, she was Rias' Rook and could not depart too far from her side.

"I suppose this is where my respect for you ends Red Dragon Emperor. Working for a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of my race? Never."

Kalawarner's moral code was unbendable. Equally understandable, mosquitoes do not sign up under exterminators after all.

"A-ano… I – I would like to s-stay with K-Kalawarner-san."

Asia Argento was now nervous of him. Additionally an understandable response, because most of this was over her head and she was just an innocent nun that was kicked out of the church seeking companions and a home.

"Why would I even _want_ to stay near such dangerous individuals? I'm leaving the underworld for a life of sunning on the finest beaches I can find."

Raynare's self-interests came first. Heavily not understandable, but somewhat respectable he supposed. Her life still remained bound to his regardless, and unlike Kalawarner, her reason was not sufficient enough for him to leave her to her own devices. She was one of the last members of a near-extinct race, if she believed she could live normally after something like that, she was ridiculously optimistic.

Then came Tsubasa. The girl had been strangely quiet, strangely subdued, and Issei tried to filter down the stirrings of hope in which was beginning to fill him up, a stirring that indicated that perhaps, one of them had the common sense to realize that their refusals were extremely idiotic. Perhaps, one of them could see that this was the only way, that his choice had been the right one.

His choice had been the right one.

It had been the right one… Had it not?

"I – I'm sorry Issei. I-I just can't. I owe you my life, but I can't afford to risk it again fighting or joining this new government… I'm sorry."

The expression, taking the wind out of someone's sails would not have been apt to describe what Issei felt. It was rather as though someone had grabbed the sails and went to artistic work on it with a pair of clippers and used it to make miniature stickmen of cloth, all equally giving him the middle finger.

"I understand."

 **Fallacy Succeeded!**

"I cannot blame you."

 **Fallacy Succeeded!**

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Issei."

Issei stared at them, the wisps of a smile on his face, and the desire to scream out in rage at the indignation of their choices, of their rather stupid choices – except for Asia's of course, couldn't blame her.

Abstractly, the back of his throat burned softly with screams of betrayal that were never voiced, perhaps because he realized that that from their perspectives, he was the one betraying them, ridiculous as it sounded.

As such, amidst the shifty eyes and long awkward silence, he found himself smiling, a weird, odd smile that seemed to be out of place given the situation, yet, he could not help but give it.

Their choices did not matter.

Whether they hated him or not, chose to follow him or not, he would keep them safe. There would not be a single follicle of hair harmed on their heads as long as he drew breath, and they did not need to know that. Better to think him the villain he supposed as it would keep them safe.

He was going to have to kill Alucard sometime, and it would be better that they were not connected to him once he killed the anomaly that was the most famous and respected Vampire in the world.

The other Anomalies were also bound to be known or respected figures, and it was only a matter of time before he would have become a wanted criminal, he had just sped up the process.

"Now that you have accomplished absolutely _nothing_ , I think it's time you leave."

His betrothed had said, her voice stone and cold, and Issei found himself still smiling. Abstractly, he noted that Rias was beautiful when angry, and it would be a shame their marriage would never happen.

"Sona –"

"Sona's is still unconscious, and I am _not_ letting you go anywhere near her until she wakes up."

He laughed.

Oh, that was the wrong thing to do. He had genuinely found it funny, but it was perhaps not the brightest idea to show any form of mirth in such a tense situation. Rias had taken a step back, and he could see her hands fall into the position that would allow her draw magic, and likewise, the rest of them were practically oozing fear and unease.

It was truly amusing to Issei, the fact remained that if he wanted to see Sona, none of them would be able to stop him, none of them possessed the power or the ability to do so. He could knock them all unconscious before they could blink, put them to sleep, or rush past them and complete his goal.

The only real reason he didn't was because it would make him needlessly antagonistic.

"Issei… are you even still Issei?"

He turned to her, Tsubasa, he noted and the question gave him pause.

"I suppose I am. I still find you beautiful, I still sneak glances towards your thighs and breasts when you're not looking. At the same time, I still want to protect all of you, even though you don't believe it and all think I'm crazy."

He shrugged. "But I suppose it's not really a question of whether I'm Issei, and more of whether I'm who you think Issei is."

A wave of silence breached in momentarily.

"He was a pervert." Tsubasa said, breaking the silence, "He was an unrepentant pervert, but he had a good heart. He was the type of person to never give up, he always had this burning fiery determination inside of him… he would never think about signing up with some genocidal maniac."

Ah, that was the crux of the matter. Endless determination? An ability to never give up? He wanted to laugh again but restrained himself because it would be inappropriate. Who did she think he was? A Shonen Protagonist?

His choice was being condemned because none of them had been there to make it. A small part of him desired to ask her what she would have done had she been the one lying flat on her chest, unable to move in a desert of golden corpses, whilst given the option to join the man responsible or fight for her life.

He did not ask because he already knew the answer. She'd choose the heroic option. Choosing to die than to accept Orochimaru's offer.

Abstractly, it should be noted that Tsubasa had no family, and her friends could be mentioned with the fingers of one hand. She was no one necessarily important in the grand scale of the universe, and her presence or lack of thereof would make no great waves.

Issei did not have that liberty.

"I am an unrepentant pervert, I've been looking through all your clothes since we've been talking," at that some tried to cover up "I do have a good heart. It's beating and thumping as a sign that I'm alive. I do have a fiery determination, because my goal is to save the world and keep you all safe. Orochimaru is not a 'genocidal maniac' though, so I suppose, by all your criteria I am still Hyoudou Issei."

"You don't even sound like him! Issei was never this… cold, detached."

He smiled once more. Ah, strange, his mind was clear, far too clear, far too logical, and as such, the way he spoke and the way he thought reflected it.

"So, you are saying you would be satisfied if I sounded like myself? Or rather, if I sounded more like the way you believe Hyoudou Issei should sound? Will this solve all our problems?"

"Yes! No! I-I don't know!" she said, pausing "All I know is that the path you're walking is wrong!"

Ah, and knowing this, you would be content to run away to safety and leave me to walk it alone. Oh, it would have been so easy to use this line, but he saw no need to guilt trip her.

"Which is why I am glad that I am walking it alone."

Issei wondered if he had maxed out the legendary 'create silence' skill.

None of them would try to as reason him out of it, because none of them could. It didn't mean that he would not be pleased to at least see them _try_. Asia was still reeling from the realization that he was not the all-benevolent stranger he had painted himself to be. Rias was breaking trying to cope with her father and brother's loss and her mother's sudden reclusion. The progress previously made with Akeno had reverted as she viewed him as a manipulator and cold-hearted fiend, and she would not want to seem sympathetic to him if it would earn Rias' ire. Koneko would not bother attempting to speak up and vocally start convincing him in view of so many others. Raynare was selfish and attempting to convince him that he was doing the wrong thing did not count in her interests. Kalawarner viewed the world in monochrome and had chosen to become a foster guardian for Asia.

Tsubasa could _try_ , but it would be futile. Oh, her attempts were futile. Sad as it was, despite being one of the first girls he had made a connection with, they had drifted over the course of time. Events had happened and events had changed that she had been left in the dust. The Hyoudou Issei she had met in a supermarket and the Hyoudou Issei that stood in front of her were two different people.

"You _can_ , join me. We never did go on our scheduled date to see the Icha Icha Movie after all."

Her face squeezed into a grimace.

"I – I –"

Ah, the situational context would make this a hard decision.

"I am not forcing you to make the decision _now_. Take your time, all the time you need."

Her jaw clenched shut, and Issei let out an amused sigh.

For all his increased intellect, he could not properly ascertain what exactly would have transgressed had Sona been awake. Understandably, it was her own opinion that filled him with the most amount of trepidation. Would she too, condemn him like the rest? Would she have tried to make him place the moral level above the pragmatic? Or would she have followed him through thick and thin?

He did not know.

Genuinely, he wished to know Sona's perspective. There existed a gnawing at his chest that came from the feeling of uncertainty as to what his bespectacled partner would think about his decision.

Issei performed a strange, foreign curtsy, as he glanced at the gathered girls.

"There will be a ceremony after Vali's coronation. If you are not willing to swear complete allegiance to the throne, I recommend leaving as soon as possible. The Yokai and Vampire Factions should be willing to take you in."

Then he was gone, Shadow Step taking him away, descending into the shadows like a man sinking into oil, and giving them all a charming smile.

"Till we meet again."

He reappeared far, far away from the Gremory Territory, on a wild grassy plains, his eyes closed. He inhaled, enjoying as the rush of air filled deep within his lungs and made his chest expand, taking in a plethora of smells of natural plants and vegetation of the underworld that he had not known existed, and then he exhaled, his chest once more evening out.

"Well Ise-kun?"

He looked over to his side, finding the familiar form of a blonde pigtailed Fallen Angel in a dark gothic-loli dress, idly lying on the grass, and he let out a chuckle.

"I suppose it is just you and I for now."

She winced.

"I'm sorry, Ise-kun."

The Gamer found himself blinking, wondering why she would be so concerned, it was not as though all his companions had chosen to turn their backs on him and – oh.

Abstractly, he realized from a different perspective, he had just asked his companions to join him to the 'dark side', and he had been turned down by all of them, and only one of them had so much as tried to talk him out of it. He had technically lost any budding harem he was once building up, and he may have irreparably ruined their relationship.

He _definitely_ could not see Rias, Koneko, Asia and Kalawarner ever thinking about being his romantic interest again.

"Do no–" he shook his head again, he needed to stop speaking so formally. "Don't be."

He gestured his arm towards her, and she took it, rising, her head reaching his chest as he pulled her close to him, taking a calm, deep whiff of the smell of burnt cinnamon as his arms wrapped around her, coiling around her slender waist and resting on her back.

"Thank you, Mittelt."

Her own arms tightened around him.

"Anything for you Ise-kun, anything for you."

They had stayed in that position for several minutes, and Hyoudou Issei found himself feeling strangely… happy.

"Mittelt… why are not wearing any underwear?"

"Too… restricting…?"

Hyoudou Issei proceeded to spank the firm buttocks of the fallen angel through her clothes, listening as she let out a heated hasp.

"I-Ise-kun!"

Ah yes, he could definitely get used to this.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Human Realm**

"Do you like it?"

"I love it! It's beautiful! The décor, the space, and oh my, the kitchen is just wonderful! I can only imagine how family dinners would taste when using all that fancy equipment!"

"Precisely why I bought it."

She spun at him, eyes wide.

"Dear, come listen to this, your son is playing a prank on us again!"

"I'm coming honey! Oh my, you should check out the back! A lake on one side and a large garden on the other! I can just imagine fishing there already!"

"Dear, Issei-kun is telling me that he bought this mansion."

"Of course he did! Why else would he have brought us here?"

"Dear, you're missing the point. Issei, how did you get the money to afford this place?"

"I won a lottery."

 **Fallacy Succeeded!**

"You did? Oh my! Why didn't you tell us?"

"I did not wish to ruin the surprise."

 **Fallacy Succeeded!**

"My, what a surprise indeed – d-dear, are you crying?"

"My perverted loafer son not only has a girlfriend, but he was lucky enough to win a lottery! Oh, I thought I'd never see the day I could be so proud of him."

"…Thanks dad."

"Oh, you know I'm only joking son. No matter what choice you make, or what you do in life, I'll always support you."

"Your father's right, it doesn't matter what happens, we're you're parents Issei, and we love you no matter what."

Issei sighed.

"I know. That is why… that is why I have to keep you two safe. I have to make sure no one attempts to use you to get to me."

"I-Issei? What are you talking about?"

"When it is all over… I will come back, introduce you to the girl or girls I am in love with, and we will be a happy family once more. But for now… for now… the risks are too high."

"Issei, you're scaring your mother. What are you talking about? Did you run into trouble?"

"I am sorry, mom, dad. I truly am sorry about this."

"Issei? Issei?"

"Son are you – "

"Inception. Fallacy."

…

"Who – who are you?"

"Honey, why is this weird young man in our house?"

"Ah, forgive me, I was just visiting, Mr. and Mrs…"

"Kirigaya."

"Of course… I shall be on my way, Kirigaya-san."

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serafall Leviathan cursed.

One of the deadly sins had been able to smell her out despite being protected by Issei's familiar, and now, she found herself fleeing for her life as all seven of them chased her down. She was fleeing across the Underworld, fleeing to a location where she would not face such an overwhelming disadvantage. As far as she knew, Sona and her friends where at the Gremory Territory for now, but she could not stay there, the risk was far too great and she would only be bringing her sister into danger.

Then all at once, she found herself freeze, halted in her tracks.

"Dil-chan? W-what are you doing?"

The slime girl did not answer, instead, her liquid form draped all around her and became like an impeccable glue, as she found herself unable to move.

"Dil! Stop, they'll catch up with me!"

She got no response still, and she tried even harder to escape, but found herself unable to do so, the slime held her firmly in place.

"Dil-chan is sorry Fall-chan, but these are master's orders."

"W-what?"

That was when he appeared, crawling out from the shadows in front of her like a beast escaping from the depths of hell, a young black-haired man in a dark trench coat and leather pants. The trench coat was open, leaving his chest, stomach and abs exposed and his eyes seemed to be a weird mix of dark and white.

This – this was Dil-chan's master? This was the Red Dragon Emperor? Her sister's boyfriend?

She could not believe that Sona of all people fell for a bad boy type.

"Serafall Leviathan."

He spoke her name the same way a tired parent would call their child.

"Do you know how annoying this is? To have gone to so much trouble to try and rescue you only to have to kill you afterwards?"

Her eyes widened. "W-what?"

The familiar's adhesive liquids covered her mouth and there was suddenly a bony white scythe at her throat, drawing a small clean line of blood.

"I apologize about this. Unfortunately, you are a loose end that needs to be tied up, and Orochimaru himself instructed this."

She stared at his eyes, cold, deep, and somewhat brutal, there was no hesitation in them whatsoever.

"If I do not kill you, Orochimaru would start 'questioning' my motives. It wouldn't take long for him to realize the true reason I joined him, and then I would be killed. So… this is nothing personal."

The scythe swung through the air.

Serafall blinked as it missed her completely, striking to the ground, and instead she noticed the boy's hands quivering as he let out a deep annoyed sigh.

"Killing you will also guarantee that Sona will hate me with a passion, and dedicate the rest of her life trying to get revenge."

Serafall just watched the boy's inner turmoil with a bit of confusion, before her ears perked up, and she could hear the pattering of footsteps rapidly approaching.

"… Ah, I see a solution."

This time, the blade swung once more, but instead of slicing her throat, it aimed for her wrist, and blood burst forth as the arm that his familiar had healed was chopped clean off again.

Her eyes winced at the pain and she wanted to scream, had it not been for his familiar covering her mouth, she would have.

Then, the familiar healed up her wounds and regenerated the hand once more, making her wonder if the boy was some sort of sadist. This was until she watched him gather the hand, and then gather the blood and then clasp his hands together.

"Blood Clone: Transformation."

In seconds there was an exact, identical copy of her that grew from the limb and the blood, as it stood and blinked for a few seconds.

Right before the boy's scythe severed the head from the body.

Serafall could not even explain the chill that ran down her spine from witnessing what was essentially her own murder.

He then turned to her.

"I am risking a lot by doing this. So when you go into hiding, and go discreet. Dye your hair, shrink your boobs, change your eye color, your manner of talking, anything and everything. Serafall Leviathan died today, and the only ones who will know otherwise will be you, I, my familiar and Sona."

She felt the slime familiar release her, and before she could as much as demand an explanation, she found herself sinking into a pit of shadows.

The last thing she saw before sent _somewhere_ was Hyoudou Issei raising the severed head of her clone high, as seven hooded figures appeared and nodded in approval.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **You made a** **Karmic Choice** **. These are the choices that determine your alignment, and certain actions or deeds will shift your alignment accordingly.**

 **Choice: You decided to join up with Orochimaru, disregarding his past deeds and seeking for the future.**

 **Karmic Rating:-**

 **Lawful – [0.1%]**

 **Neutral – [99.0%]**

 **Chaotic – [0.9%]**

 **Alignment Rating:-**

 **Good – [0.0%]**

 **Neutral – [0.0%]**

 **Evil – [100.0%]**

 **Your Alignment is Neutral Evil!**

 **Congratulations! You have entered the Evil Alignment!**

 **Certain game features are only available to good or evil characters, and as such you have now unlocked the ability to do truly evil deeds and gain rewards from them! Now get out there and steal, kill and destroy!**

Utterly ridiculous. Those two words more than anything perfectly described Issei's thoughts upon reading the notification screen informing him of his decision.

The Exodus Switch viewed his decision to join Orochimaru as inherently evil, forgoing any other reasoning or justification, whereas he could only qualify it as being the most logical solution.

In the long run, he was somewhat surprised at this change, but he supposed he was more surprised at the fact that 'content' existed for 'evil' players.

He had been given an entire new Character Affiliations screen.

 **Character Affiliations and Notoriety!**

 **As an evil character, you can now measure your level of Infamy and determine what nations or people hate you most, and which ones are most likely to send assassins or bounty hunters after you!**

 **Realms – Underworld**

 **Royal Empire of Hedon [Devil Faction]: You are (Loyal).**

 **\- Ranking: Commanding Officer.**

 **The Bloodlands [Vampire Faction]: You are (Despised).**

 **\- Ranking: S-Class Enemy. Engage only if unavoidable.**

 **Beast's Prairie [Yokai Faction]: You are (Wanted).**

 **\- Ranking: S-Class Enemy. Massive Reward for information or capture.**

 **Land of Fiends [Demon Faction]: You are (Loyal).**

 **\- Ranking: Superior Commanding Officer. Left Hand of the Maou.**

 **The Faelands [Fairy Faction]: You are (Neutral).**

 **\- Ranking: N/A**

 **Stats/Evil Activities**

 **You have: (0) Bounties on your head.**

 **You have gone on: (0) Killing Sprees.**

 **You have pillaged: (0) Towns/Villages**

 **You have accepted: (0) Assassination Requests**

 **You have:**

 **(0) Counts of Arson**

 **(0) Counts of Kidnapping**

 **(0) Counts of Terrorism**

 **(0) Counts of Murder**

 **(9) Counts of Jaywalking**

 **(14) Counts of Sexual Harassment**

 **(34) Counts of Illegal Entry**

 **(40) Counts of Trespassing**

 **(114) Counts of Indecent Exposure**

Ah, utterly wonderful. It was almost as though the system was encouraging him to go out and commit evil deeds by the dozen, in the manner that most open world sandbox games would have their protagonists do. Of course, the fact that he would be committing this crimes on actual people seemed not to matter to the supposedly all powerful Exodus Switch. If anything, it supposed it would make things more _fun_.

That aside, he had discovered that The Five Factions of the Underworld had names, to which he was somewhat surprised but it was not utterly unexpected. The Royal Empire of Hedon was what the new Monarchist Government of the Devil Underworld was currently being called, with Vali Lucifer as King of Devils, Issei idly wondered how long the empire would last.

He estimated it would only last as long as Vali was able to keep up the act as the puppet king. The White Dragon Emperor's Bio had indicated that he was someone who wanted to seek out good, strong opponents to fight, and not someone who wanted to reign on a throne, handling the affairs of a state.

He would have most likely challenged Issei straight to a fight, had he not learned that Issei had lost the Boosted Gear and was no longer the Red Dragon Emperor. It was somewhat true, but not entirely. Issei still remembered what the notification had read.

 **Due to the change of alignment and the selection of a particular ultimatum, the Sentient Components of the Sacred Gear now reject [you] the wielder. Your Boosted Gear has reverted to an initial state, the Twice Critical.**

The Twice Critical, Issei had mused. An ability that allowed him only one power up when in the heat of battle, a vastly inferior ability compared to his boosting, but he supposed he would make do. He was planning on fighting his battles _smarter_ now, and not _stronger_.

And if that failed, he knew ways to bypass the limitation and reactivate the Boosted Gear, but best to let Ddraig think he was winning.

Speaking of winners…

Hyoudou Issei took in a deep breath as the doors to the large room thrust open. His face was perfectly, impeccably controlled, facial muscles in place, eyelids left three-quarters opened, body posture straight but not incredibly so lest he seem too eager, and not too little lest he seem too unwilling.

Ah, the famous red carpet welcome. Abstractly, the Gamer's mind idly noted the long flowing velvet carpet which extended from his position at the door straight down into the room. A more poetic side of him would have mused that the carpet was somewhat symbolic, and as he strode on it without a second regard, so would he be walking down a pathway of blood. Strangely, as though he was a wistful child anticipating prelapsarian days, he could already picture the numerous atrocities he would either commit or let be committed simply by choosing this path. His nostrils could already perceive the phantom smells of copper, and his tongue could already taste the tangy metal.

Of course, he would be a fool to have let any of these contradicting thoughts show on his face, instead, he walked down the red carpet, like an aspiring celebrity making his first public debut, his eyes glanced around the room, shifting left to right like a pendulum of no end, taking in anything and everything that could be useful should an altercation occur.

There would be no need, he told himself, were an altercation to occur with the eight in the room, his choices of escape were very limited; his choices of survival? Near-nonexistent.

So, he walked.

And he walked.

Then he stood.

Orochimaru stood, arms outstretched as though he were the prodigal father, a benevolent deity that would choose to capture and free the insects that invaded his household than to kill them.

The rest of them, all seven, stood behind the man in an arc that was not unlike viewing crescent moon, and in the dim lighting of the location, it served to add a further ephemeral appearance to them.

"Kukuku… we have a new member in our midst, and he shall be personally aiding me in the completion of our ultimate goal, serving to do what the rest of you cannot."

Idly, the Gamer perhaps wished that the immortal would soften his words, because he was not at all comfortable with the way the cloaked gazes of the seven seemed to regard him with no small amount of contempt, at the insinuation that he was being brought in due to their own ineptitude.

"Issei-kun answers directly to me, and he is my left-hand, second-in-command only to you Kimmimaro. From today, he will lead you seven."

Well that would be fairly inconvenient.

Likewise, the Seven agreed, and they were not in any means pleased.

"Forgive me for speaking out of place Orochimaru-sama, but you cannot seriously place this _boy_ above us – he has yet to even prove as much as his loyalty to you –"

"He killed Serafall Leviathan, that alone speaks volumes of loyalty and dedication, considering what persisted between him and the Leviathan's sister."

The Gamer's face betrayed nothing, even as the sound around him began to dull and no small amount of apprehension drenched his entire body from the realization that Orochimaru knew he had been dating Sona. Why would the man even possess that information? Blackmail should in case Issei had refused? Psychological profiling in order to know how best to manipulate him? Somehow, the man's claim of memorizing the entirety of the names of every Fallen Angel in existence no longer seemed as farfetched as it once did.

He was then subsequently bathed in sheer unease as he hoped with every fiber of his being that Serafall had taken his advice as the word of god himself and was smart enough to completely fall off the radar.

"But Orochimaru-sama –" it was Envy who spoke now, his voice possessing a greasy, crocodilian appeal "Hyoudou Issei may have killed her, but that does not mean that he is capable of leading us seven –"

"Precisely why you seven will be evaluating him. What better way to find a man's capabilities than to follow his judgements and see his worth as a leader?"

Issei almost marveled as to how the man's words mollified them, and rather than feeling the ignominy of being callously pitched aside after possible countless years of loyalty, the instead focused on him, and despite all being cloaked with hooded vestments, he could tell that they were all observing him, as though he were a lab rat that had been fed a spoon of uranium.

The man's clap brought attention back to him.

"You will all have plenty of time to test Issei-kun later. For now, I shall return to the Land of Fiends; I am keen to prod around the Lucifer and Beelzebub and fathom what made them infinitely superior to the rest of their race. Do not disturb my research; I will call for you when needed."

The man Orochimaru had called Kimmimaro had moved forth, genuflecting to the immortal, whereas Issei merely nodded, and then spoke.

"What are our orders for the meantime?"

Orochimaru's eyes twinkled in mirth, and Issei would forever have nightmares from the memory.

"The Royal Empire of Hedon is under Vali's control, however the people have just suffered a major loss, losing their Satans and their numbers, their spirits are meager and their moral in pieces. Tell me then Issei-kun, what do you believe you should do?"

A test? Was Orochimaru testing him so soon? Seven pairs of eyes turned on him.

"Boost the morale of the people. Keep them happy, drunk; satisfied in any way possible."

Issei blinked. Ah, so that was why –

"I assume this is why you are having Vali is throw a banquet in 'honor' of the fallen devils and Satans and in celebration of fighting off the successful invasion. Presenting his image as a benevolent but indulgent king, who respects the old traditions, but paves way for a new one filled with hedonistic privileges."

Everyone wanted to be happy. Everyone wanted enjoyment and no one wished for unnecessary suffering or anguish. In a time when numerous had died, people would be seeking an outlet to turn their grief against, to turn their anger, or to sate their rage and bloodlust. So a large, continent-wide banquet, a banquet where wine and food and drink was shared freely to all devils, and they could drink to their miseries, and stuff their faces to their sorrows.

They would be too occupied doing this to ask questions; to have _doubts_. If one was contemplating whether a chicken leg and a turkey leg could fit in their mouths at the same time, they didn't question whether or not it was a good thing to change their entire system of government. When you were chugging down fine Italian wine like a parched cowboy in the desert, you didn't have time to think about questioning the specifics of the Monarchy. If you had the tongue of a beautiful woman around your cock, you wouldn't be thinking about what war your King would be sending you to fight next.

It helped that most of the infrastructural damages done had already been repaired, snappily as well with a few bits of reversal magic here and there, and devils were notoriously easy to please and distract. For all of their fancy garments, clothes and demeanor, it was imbedded in their genetic code to live as avariciously as possible, and none of them would pass up this chance.

Of course, it also helped that there were Devil Purists who had opposed the Satans and their way pacifistic tendencies, and had long wished to go back to the days when devils took human souls, stole, lied, cheated openly and were indeed the ruthless, immoral creatures of legend.

"Kukuku… you catch on quickly Issei-kun. For now, you may do as you wish, engage in the festivities, distract yourself with the women, but ensure that any who dissent Vali's rule are in the far minority, and let there be embellishments speaking far praise about their King."

Ah, so ensure there were no uprisings or sparks of a rebellion, keep his ears peeled to the ground for any who wanted Vali gone, and whisk them into the night with beautiful promises of sweet time and alcohol, and 'convince' them that Vali was a king ordained by god.

Orochimaru then turned around.

"From that point on, merely do whatever needs to be done to ensure that Vali-kun remains on the throne. I did not go through all the trouble of making him a King, only for him to toss it all away foolishly. If we are to steer the devils down the path of scientific advancement, we need Vali to be their king."

Of course, Issei understood the reason Orochimaru had placed Vali as a dictator. Despite advertising it as a 'Monarchy', Issei knew that this was a dictatorship. The people had just not realized it yet. There was a lot of power in the hands of a single man that would be the King of Devils, much more power than there would be if he had attempted to use a democratic government. Despite the four Satans being the highest authority beforehand, a lot of the choices and decisions they made were restricted by select individuals, such as the Clan Heads and the Great King.

As the sole ruling Monarch, Vali would not have that limitation.

By proxy, Orochimaru had total freedom to use and allocate resources, funds and manpower wherever and whenever he wished; like for instance, harvesting important gems in decrepit dusty mines or ordering the Phenix clan to contribute their urine as rocket fuel for a spaceship.

Issei watched as Orochimaru's form wavered, as though he were a form of illusion, before it faded out of existence, leaving him alone with the seven deadly sins.

There was a palpable amount of pressure in the room, one which Issei rapidly contemplated on what would be the next best choice of action. He needed to establish himself a persona that they would know him for, as for now, he was a complete and utter blank state in their eyes, the words he uttered would either be used to make or break him, or make them question his position.

 _What are you all staring at? Shouldn't we be doing our jobs?_ He could use that, but it would make him sound defensive and rather too eager to please, which would bring up questions about his motivations, questions such as why was he so eager? Why was he so defensive? Was he indeed truly loyal, or was he like a bubbling street rat trying to scurry up the shoulders of the prominent big cheese?

 _So… how about we get to know each other?_ Another valid option, but it would probably indicate a form of weakness. An attempt to gain rapid familiarity could easily be misconstrued as an attempt to gain information about them. Why would he care about them if he was not interested in knowing them tick? Their hobbies and fetishes could be their weaknesses and follies, and this would be guarded extremely closely.

Alternatively, Issei wondered if he was just overthinking things.

"Kimmimaro's in charge. Have any issues or thoughts, give it to him and he'll hand it to me."

The man wielding the title of the Sin of Pride did not find it entertaining.

"Orochimaru-sama placed you as our commander –"

"And now, I am putting you as my vice. It's called delegation of authority, or do you perhaps have any problems with that?"

He made to move, but did not.

"No, I do not."

Ah, maybe he just might survive this 'evil' thing after all.

* * *

Issei opened the door to a large cell. Dim lights flickered within a cool dark room and a cage with runic bars stood inside. Within it was a small, feline creature, an inconspicuous looking cat, gently rubbing it's paws at the iron bars, as though to say it had no idea how it had got there and needed to escape.

"Do you honestly believe I will fall for that for a second?"

The cat just kept rubbing its paws on the bars, and making soft pitiful noises, like it was genuinely a caged animal seeking freedom.

"Alright then. I suppose I have no choice but to offer you as a sacrifice to Anubis. I wonder if he would be insulted or honored? Or maybe I'd feed you to a werewolf… that would be fascinating to watch would you not agree?"

All at once the cat morphed, switching from that of a small quadrupedal creature to that of a bipedal one, fur vanishing and replacing with skin, legs elongating and arms stretching out, until what stood in front of Issei was a somewhat tanned dark-skinned woman wearing a rather loose and revealing short black kimono.

Or rather, wearing nothing to Issei's X-Ray Vision.

"So… Kuroka?"

The woman gave him a sultry look.

"And you must be the infamous Issei-kun nya~"

"Infamous? I have only been a bad guy for thirty-six hours and I'm already infamous? Ridiculous."

Issei did not know if she was smiling at him, or just smiling in general to add to her sultry appeal, but he found it pleasant.

"I heard you're the one who captured me~nya, that you're the one who put me in this cage~nya."

She proceeded to place her breasts against the bars, giving them even more shape.

"That would be true."

"Why~nya?"

She proceeded to hang upside down from one of the bars, giving Issei quite the view… that is if he was not already seeing her naked.

"Can you stop that? I have been staring at you naked so trying to 'lure' me in with seduction will not work. I'm not interested in a strip show, there are too many places where I can go for those."

He paused.

"But I would have to pay for all of such places, so by all means, continue."

Kuroka frowned.

"What do you want~nya?"

"To talk. More specifically, about Naruto."

She snarled, and Issei rose an eyebrow. Abstractly, he contemplated the reason for such an emotional response. Were they not on good terms? Or was it that she was fiercely loyal to him?

"What do you want to know about Naruto-kun?"

"Everything."

"Why~nya?"

"I may need to kill him. Eventually."

She regarded him with laughter. Deep, melodious sounding laugher as though someone had just delivered the punchline of the century and Issei in turn regarded her with an exaggerated bow.

"That's so funny~nya! Even if you were to train for a hundred years, you'd have no chance against Naruto-kun~nya!"

"And why is that? What can he do that I can't?"

"Other than Senjutsu~nya?" a brief chuckle "Naruto-kun has the Byakugan, the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. He has the Hiraishin, and near limitless Shadow Clones. He can control all five elements, magma and steam. He has the Truth Seeking Balls nya, and that's not an ecchi ability, but one that can negate almost everything you throw at him."

"And all of this… is just him? Without Kurama's help?"

"Of course-nya! With Kurama-chan's help, Naruto becomes much faster and stronger, and can use his chakra cloak nya."

"I see. That's kinda bad for me I guess. How did he get those eyes though?"

"The Byakugan was from his wife nya, and the Sharingan and Rinnegan was from his best friend nya."

"He forcibly took their eyes?"

"No-nya! They gave them to him nya!"

"I see. That sounds pretty cool. What do these eyes do?"

"The Byakugan can see in all angles at once nya! It can also see really far distances. The Sharingan can hypnotize people, slow down time, copy any jutsu it sees, cast illusions, and summon unquenchable black flames nya! It can also summon large titanic warriors of chakra nya!"

"And the Rinnegan?"

"The Rinnegan is awesome nya! Naruto-kun says it lets him use gravitational attacks, turn parts of his body into machinery, summon beasts and even heal people and bring back the dead! It can also –"

A pause.

"What's wrong?"

"W-why am I telling you any of this? W-what – What did you do to me~nya!"

He smiled at her, noticing as her calm and relaxed aura had all but vanished, and instead, stood the place of a warrior, of a fierce warrior who had realized instantly that she was in a combat zone, and her enemies were one with air.

It had lasted long enough, but the Inveigle and Heaven's Viewing Mirror finally wore out, and with it, exposing to the woman the realization that she was freely divulging secrets without any need to.

"You have stronger willpower than I assumed. Admittedly, not as much as Kurama, he was able to break out of it in seconds, whereas you required minutes."

"G-genjutsu?"

"A minor one to make you comfortable. I suppose having some information about Naruto's abilities is better than having none at all."

"W-why~nya?"

"I'm going to have to explain to Naruto as to why I joined Orochimaru. This is more of a precautionary measure than anything else, just in case he tries to kill me, I do not want to be caught off guard."

Another harsh snarl.

"It's not going to do you any luck~nya! Even with my Senjutsu I've never managed to land a hit on Naruto-kun even when he was holding back~nya!"

Silence. This time, the silence had not come from Issei's end.

"What was that?"

"I said I've never managed to –"

"No, before that."

"Even with my Senjutsu?"

"Yes, that's it. You – you can use Senjutsu?"

"Of course I can~nya! I'm a Nekoshou, with training all of us can!"

"And you _don't_ know?"

"Know? Know what~nya?"

"About the loops. The resets."

"What are you talking about~nya?"

"I see. So that means either he erased your memories or he was lying to my face. Most likely the former though."

"What are you – hey! W-watch those hands~nya! Get your h-hands off me~nya!"

"If you can use Senjutsu, this makes my life all the more easier."

"W-w-what are you do –"

"Black Widower."

She gasped. Her body began quivering in endless bliss. Somehow, she simultaneously let out a heavy moan, whine and whimper. Issei could see her body teleport to a state of instant arousal, cheeks flushed, nipples hardened, a trail of sweat sauntering down her vibrating thighs. A visible mist of her breath emerged, her eyes glistened over, her cheek muscles relaxed as her nostrils flared and pupils dilated.

Then the height of pleasure struck, her back arched and her toes curled, her hips shuddered madly as though it had been submerged in ice water, she tried, futilely, to mash her thighs together in an attempt to fight off her arousal. Instead, she found herself spreading them as her head swung further back, as though she was a yoga practitioner and contortionist, her hands clenched and opened and clenched again, and her tongue hung freely from her mouth as her body trembled like it had been struck by earthquakes and lightning.

The sound of liquid striking the floor resonated, as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her body dropped to the floor, a panting, shuddering, unconscious mess.

 _Ping!_

 **Your Beginner Level Senjutsu has reached level 100!**

 **You have been upgraded to Intermediate Level Senjutsu!**

 **Intermediate Level Senjutsu has hit Level 49!**

 **You have attained the ability to use Youjutsu!**

 **You have attained the skill Spatial Manipulation!**

 **You have attained greater mastery of Chakra!**

 **You have leveled up!**

 **You have leveled up!**

 **You have leveled up!**

 **You have leveled up!**

Ah, apparently his Senjutsu skill came in three levels, Beginner, Intermediate, and he assumed the final one would be Advanced or Master. Truly fascinating, he wondered if it was suitably advanced enough for him to now retain all his memories once he died. This of course, once more ran under the assumption that he could either convince or cheat Death into giving him another chance.

 _Ping!_

 **Previous Save Data Files Found.**

 **Corrupted Save Data Files Found.**

 **Would you like to import these files into current session?**

Ah, so his knowledge of Senjutsu was now sufficient enough to give him the memories of past attempts? Perfect. They would be extremely useful in time to come.

 **Importing Data Files…**

 **Data Files Size Large.**

 **Estimated Time Remaining: 0:59**

 **You will be notified on Completion.**

The Gamer regarded the cage, a strange contraption of Devilish Origin, which prevented devils from being able to access any of their powers or latent abilities. Ideally, despite being a Nekoshou, Kuroka was still a devil, and the cage worked well.

With a twist and an insertion of power, the cage unlocked, and he moved over the still shuddering form of the unconscious Nekoshou, her face twisted into one of sheer bliss.

"I believe it is time to get you refreshed and send you home."

He gingerly lifted her up, eyes only giving the glistening liquids that ran down her thighs a brief glance, before effortlessly placing her on his back.

Oh?

Hyoudou Issei came to a slow stop, his eyes crinkling in mirth as he heard the unconscious woman on his back let out silent comfortable moans.

"Spatial Manipulation? Manipulating the area of space around you and setting your own rules? You had such a power and Orochimaru defeated you without so much of a glance?"

He glanced at the woman, before he slowly returned to the cage and dropped her body within.

"Apologies, but I may need to do something first."

Oh?

Issei froze.

 **Importation Complete!**

"... Fucking hell."

* * *

~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Beast's Prairie [Yokai Faction]**

 **Palace of Tails**

Issei had gone dark.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! FUCKING FUCK!"

A spiraling orb of chakra slammed into a collection of different walls, tearing them asunder and leaving gaping holes in each and every one.

"GODDAMNIT!"

Common sense indicated that everyone in the Palace of Tails were to stay as far away as possible from the enraged blond.

" **You're paying for all the damages Naruto. Can't really afford to waste money now that we're fighting a war.** "

Naruto turned, giving a glare to his best friend and companion.

" **Don't give me that look – this is your mess to clean up.** "

Naruto turned his heated glare away from his companion, and instead paced up and down, swearing left and right.

"Of all the stupid thing he's done! Of all the possible paths he could follow, he chose to pull this one! I can't believe he actually signed up with Orochimaru."

The Gamer had gone dark. The man with the Exodus Switch that was supposed to save the world had chosen to sign up under Orochimaru. With Issei, Vali, and his minions, Orochimaru was a threat that not even _he_ could face successfully. He had never beaten the man in combat whilst back in the shinobi era, and he doubted he could do so now after the man had countless years to become stronger and prepare.

" **I told you we should have kept a closer eye on him.** "

Naruto turned to Kurama, finding the being crossing his arms with equal parts annoyance and contempt.

"We had to let him grow on his own! Watching his every movement would have run counter to the purpose of the Exodus Switch in the first place!"

" **And now he's grown straight into Orochimaru's hands, ripe for the plucking.** "

"He promised me he wouldn't go dark! I made him promise that at least!"

" **And you just thought he'd remember it and go for it? He's not** _ **you**_ **Naruto. Not everyone can keep every promise they make.** "

Naruto cursed again, growling under his throat.

" **So, we're heading down another bad end then?** "

Naruto sighed. Bad ends, what a rather meek term to describe the end of the world and the total annihilation of every living organism.

"I don't know how far Issei has slipped yet, but I still can't let Orochimaru get the Exodus Switch, I'll have to kill Issei if it comes down to it."

He let out a small frown.

" _Again_."

Kurama's face darkened. " **You know what that means right? The second you attack him with intent to kill, that blasted curse will start to take effect again and you'll be punished for 'negative interference'.** "

Naruto let out a small irritated rumble. "I know Kurama. If I attack, I have to kill him in five minutes or less, otherwise I'll be erased. I've always managed to pull it off… but this Issei, well, this version of Issei isn't like the rest. This entire loop isn't like any of the rest…"

" **You're joking. Don't tell me that you actually believe the pervert can survive five minutes against you when you're going all out?** "

"If I aim for the kill straight away, I doubt it. But the second he realizes it, that I have a time limit to kill him, he'll immediately try to stall, and he's gotten good at stalling. He was able to stall _you_ while you were going all out."

Kurama let out an annoyed begrudging growl. " **All of this could have been avoided if you had been around when the serpent showed up. What the hell were you doing?"**

"I – I was trapped in a Reality Marble. I still don't have anything in my arsenal that can immediately counter that yet, and using Fuinjutsu or Hiraishin to escape takes time."

The two fell into a slow comfortable silence.

" **So, what now?** "

"I don't know. I haven't been able to pin him down."

" **You still can't find him?** "

Naruto shook his head. "That's the thing… the invisible Hiraishin Marker I placed on his neck is gone. I don't know how he found it, or how he even knew how to remove it, but now it's hard to track him."

" **Even with Sage Mode?** "

Naruto let out an annoyed nod. "He's intentionally avoiding me, displacing his bits and pieces of the Exodus Switch's power all over the world. In the morning alone, I could sense him travel from Japan to London, to South Africa, to the Vatican and everywhere in between."

Naruto frowned.

"And he goes exclusively to crowded locations like Amusement Parks, fairs, carnivals, and busy train stations, places where he _knows_ I can't easily sneak up on him, grab him, or start an altercation without tipping off the supernatural world to humanity."

" **You're right, he's gotten smarter. Here I thought he'd be stupid enough to believe he was safe with the devils and under Orochimaru's protection**."

"We need to bait him. We need to bait him here and either smack the sense back into his head, or kill him if he refuses to see reason."

" **And how do you propose we do that?** "

"… I'm not sure, but I think we can use Son–"

The door burst open, and there Yasaka stood, panting heavily.

"N-Naruto-sama! Kurama-kun! Kuroka is back!"

Naruto's head snapped over to the blond nine-tailed yokai.

"Where is she?"

"S-she's outside… with… Hyoudou Issei."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, how utterly unfortunate it was. Had it been any other day, Hyoudou Issei would have been beyond pleased to find himself sitting here, cross-legged in the center of a palace of fox-girls and bunny girls. Beast's Prairie it was called? A rather fitting, if not somewhat oxymoronic name, for he could see no real beasts in sight, or at least, he would not consider the beautiful form of the women present as beasts.

Said women, and of course men, of the Yokai Faction which were now all unconscious surrounding him. The noble and valiant guards of the Palace of Tails, effortlessly taking down by Shadow Fists and telekinetic ricochets. Honestly it was like they did not even try, and it had Issei questioning the worth of guards who were utterly inferior to their leaders. Some were dead, which was unfortunate, as they had refused to simply stay down, and Issei had no patience to keep being lenient with them.

Kuroka was in his arms, still unconscious, and the boy found it amusing as he rubbed her head and she let out a purr in response.

Ah, so he found himself wearing a pair of black pants and a long dark trench coat with nothing else on the inside, letting his clearly defined abs and muscles poke through and leaving his skin for all those girls who would find it yummy and were not averse to a little fanservice. If the Exodus Switch was going to deem him as evil now, he supposed he'd look the part.

There was a flash of movement, and Issei's eyes were drawn to the appearance of the blond man he had known as Uzumaki Naruto, and beside him, the red-haired clone with the long swishing ten tails appeared.

"Naruto! Kurama! I have been expecting you!"

" **What are you doing fool? Do you think that you can attack my palace and my people without provocation?** "

Issei noted Kurama's anger with an amused smile, the being already getting ready to stalk forth, before Naruto gestured his arm out to prevent him from doing so.

" **What are you doing?** "

Ah, so it seemed that Naruto was smart, or at least, far smarter than he gave him credit for, and realized that the only reason that Issei would be able to so casually invade their palace and sit on their floors smiling was if he was absolutely confident in why he could do so.

"Something's not right Kurama."

"You should listen to him 'Yokai King.' By the way, I adore the castle, the decorations are superb. But I suppose what I love best would be the people, Yasaka is rather beautiful."

Kurama growled and an overwhelming torrent of killing intent peaked. " **Hold your tongue boy, before I decide to rip it out from your mouth.** "

Issei extended his arms. "Then by all means try."

Silence was the order of the day once more.

Curiously, Issei realized that the reason he could not previously stand up to these individuals was because their intent to kill manifested as a physical presence that weighed down their enemies with the force of gravity. The higher the disparity of power, the greater the effects.

Ah, but Issei could now manipulate Space. He could manipulate the space around him, making him utterly immune to their killing intents as he existed in what was essentially his own domain where their influence was rejected.

And so, for the first time, the ant gave a middle finger to god.

Issei then turned to Naruto and tilted his head. "Lord Seventh Hokage, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, student of Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi, teammate of Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, father of Himawari and Boruto, teacher of Konohamaru Sarutobi."

At this rate Issei assumed he might really have a 'create silence skill'.

" **Naruto? Naruto? Why aren't you saying anything?** "

Naruto's voice came out low, but Issei could still hear it. "He's regained the memories of his previous attempts."

"Yes, yes I have. And now, I have memories upon memories of dying by your hands. Sometimes in my sleep, other times as a child, and some, abstractly I could tell that I had been killed as an infant."

His lips were smiling, but his eyes, they held a gaze that would send Death herself reeling back in trepidation.

"You could have at least told me that the reason the loops are so many in the first place is because you went crazy and killed me _four hundred and eighteen_ consecutive times thinking it would be the solution to your problems."

Naruto opened his mouth and Issei rose his hand, stopping him cold.

"Do not bother. Do not bother telling me that you went insane and your mind had broken from the loops. I truly don't care about any of that."

Kuroka stirred in his lap, and Issei gently patted her back, his gaze never once straying from Naruto or Kurama.

"You joined Orochimaru," Naruto began, diverting the topic "I had thought better of you Issei. I thought you were someone who I could rely on to save the world, to help people."

Naruto shook his head.

"It seems like I was wrong."

Issei laughed. He let out a genuine, heartfelt laugh that made it sound as though he was an enthusiastic spectator in a stand-up comedy routine by the god of humor.

"Save your Messiah-complex for someone else Naruto. Not everyone was born to be some foretold child of prophecy."

Deep, echoing, silence.

Issei rose, gently making sure that Kuroka did not stir from her sleep. "Not all of us are reincarnations of some almighty sage and his feuding sons. Some of us are simple nobodies, nobodies who would have died at the hands of some Fallen Angel, been resurrected by a Red Haired devil, fought off a phoenix with holy water, grew closer to his peerage, won the heart of his master and won the heart of people."

The gamer cracked his knuckles.

"Nobodies, nobodies that would have lost against a Cadre Class Fallen Angel, fought off a terrorist organization, and then eventually find himself becoming acquaintances with Dragon Gods out of sheer perseverance and his own life and choices."

" **Naruto… what is he talking about?** "

Issei's lips quirked. "You don't know about it Kurama because I'm sure Naruto never told you. What I'm talking about is the original timeline, the very reason why the Exodus Switch calls my game: 'Dragon of Dragons'. A timeline that neither of you are in, do you know why?"

His finger outstretched.

"It is because you are anomalies. The First and Second Anomalies, Uzumaki Naruto and Kyubi no Kurama."

~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** **The events of this chapter all occur before Sona wakes up.**

 **Kindly Read and Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	32. Promise

**Special thanks this chapter goes to Xerzo LotCN. I didn't forget about your contribution at all buddy, and here's to you. That aside, I was surprised about people's reactions to Issei's potential Harem members leaving him. I suppose it's rare to find a fic where the Harem girls choose to leave the main guy, but is it really so surprising?**

 **That aside, let's get back to the story.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 30:**

 **Promise**

* * *

" _Guhh…. What the hell happened, where am I?"_

 _He blinked, staring left and right. There was nothing but darkness for as long as he could see._

" _Ddraig? Buchou? Akeno-senpai? Uh… anyone?"_

 _He frowned, scratching his head as he got no response. What in the world was going on?_

 _Sighing, he began trekking down the long expanse of the darkness, wandering if this was one weird dream. His dreams weren't usually like this though, most of the time it was of boobies and other fun events, and not just him walking down a field of darkness._

 _He blinked, pausing as there was suddenly two magnificent stone pillars in front of him, going higher than he had ever seen, and he couldn't even see the top!_

 _Then, there was a giant floating plaque in front of him._

 _ **Millennium Theater**_

" _What in the world is a millennium theater?"_

 _He moved through the pillars, and all at once he found himself standing at the start of a long hallway, beautifully designed with tessellated floors made of gold and diamond, glistening lights, and things that were far too fancy for him to even begin to describe._

 _He scratched his head in confusion, before he realized that there were statues stretched out, designing the ornate hall. He moved through the hall, frowning, his eyes scanning through them._

 _The first was a large man with a broad chest and coiled hair. There was a giant red 'S' on his chest, as the statue stood, looking imposing with the cape. The next was a man wearing a form of gi, with his hair outstretched in a brilliant pattern, his face narrowed and his eyes steeled. Then there was a man in a samurai robe, wielding a long ornate sword, his eyes closed in gentle deliberation. Then there was a man grinning, with a scar on his cheek and a pirate hat on his head, the statue of his body looking so long that one would mistake it for rubber._

 _On and on it went, and Issei frowned at the weird looking names, until he stopped at one that was distinctively Japanese, being tall, with three whisker-marks on his cheeks, he looked to be in his mid-twenties._

" _What kind of person was named wave-wind spiral fishcake?"_

 _The titles there also seemed to be cool, Seventh Fire Shadow, Savior of the Shinobi World, Child of Prophecy, Second Sage of Six Paths. It was far more interesting than the samurai statue that had his only visible feat as slayer of Aku. What the hell was that supposed to mean?_

" _It means maelstrom, not fishcake."_

" _GAH!"_

 _He scrambled back, collapsing on his butt as the statue's eyes came to life, and hit him with a calm smile._

" _Y-you're alive?"_

" _Technically."_

" _Technically?"_

" _This is the Millennium Theater. A hallway separate from time and reality, where every great warrior from every dimension is recorded. Our souls inhabit our statues once our names are mentioned, to answer questions of those who seek our wisdom, from gods, to primordial beings."_

" _W-whoa!"_

 _So this guy was a great hero from some other world?_

" _W-wait, then how did I get here?!"_

 _The warrior shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that no mortal can be here without being dead."_

 _His eyes immediately widened as he grasped his head in shock. "GAH! I'm dead?! How? I can't be dead! I haven't lost my virginity yet! I haven't taken buchou's virginity yet!"_

 _The warrior let out a deep rumbling laugh and Issei spun on him._

" _Oi! What's so funny?"_

" _Oh, it's nothing. You just remind me of a teacher I once had. He was a massive pervert, but he was one of the people I had loved and respected more than anyone."_

 _He frowned. "Had?"_

" _Yes. He died, killed by another of his students."_

 _He winced. "Ah, sorry."_

 _The warrior shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I met him eventually, and we fought, and in the end, I was able to convince him to give up on the cycle of hatred."_

 _He scrunched up his nose in confusion. "What's the cycle of hatred?"_

" _Oh? You don't know about it? Ah, it must mean the people of your world have been able to find peace. That's really comforting."_

 _He scratched the back of his head. "Er… not really sure about that. My world isn't really peaceful…"_

" _It- it's not?"_

" _Well, the supernatural world had this huge war back then, with devils and fallen angels and angels always killing each other and stuff… but they're at least trying to get along now… humans though…"_

 _He rubbed his cheek. "Uh… If I remember my history classes well, there were two World Wars… where crazily destructive bombs were dropped on cities and millions died. There was a whole attempted genocide and stuff… and then we've got constant fights and problems and war even before that… then there's stuff like poverty and disease and racism too… I wouldn't really call my world 'peaceful'."_

" _That's… horrible."_

 _He shrugged. "Well, things are kinda peaceful now I guess… but you know, you gotta take the good with the bad. And the good stuff is quite much too! With the greatest eroges and magical girl shows and –"_

" _You – you don't want to find true peace for your world?"_

 _He blinked. "Um, what?"_

" _To end your cycle of hatred, to make each and human being understand and help each other… don't you want that?"_

 _He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I do… but I'm just one guy, I can't make the whole world happy and peaceful. It's just… impossible."_

"… _Impossible? How can you say –"_

 _Whatever the warrior would have told him next fell flat, as he found his form fading, blinking rapidly and glowing, as it felt as though someone attached a rope to his stomach and was drawing him forth._

" _Gah! What the hell is going on?! I-I'm being resurrected?"_

 _He blinked as he found his flesh turn to a rapid red, the same brilliant red that he could recall seeing from the most powerful dragon in existence._

" _T-the Great Red is reviving me?"_

 _He shook his head as he found the world of the Millennium Theater begin to fade around him, then he gave a last glance at the hero._

" _This was an interesting meeting. Tell me, what's your name?"_

" _Hyoudou Issei."_

 _The warrior nodded._

" _Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto."_

" _It was great meeting you Naruto!"_

 _The boy vanished, leaving the warrior staring at the place where he once stood. There were residual energies left from a being of tremendously great power. Residual energies that were just weak enough to pry open, if just momentarily._

" _Finding peace is impossible? No. You just need to try… just a little bit."_

 _The feet of the warrior moved._

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~

" **Naruto**."

He recoiled from his name being called as though he had been physically slapped. His mind overlapped past and present, future and past, as he found himself standing in the Palace of Tails. A palace? Him? Since when? He blinked to clear the images, and they stared at him, Kurama who was looking at him warily, and Issei with cold, calm, calculating eyes.

"You forgot."

Issei had delivered the two words without as much as an inflection in his voice. The tone he had used being the same that someone would use to declare that the sky was blue and that fire was hot.

He grit his teeth. The feeling of his canines and incisors grinding against each other continued, deeper, even as his gums screamed at him to stop as his mouth explored the taste of copper.

" _Hello! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! From today I'll be teaching at Kuoh Academy! Nice to meet you!"_

He could hear nothing but the ragged sound of his own breathing.

" _T-thanks… Naruto-sensei, I-I don't know why Yuuma-chan wanted to k-kill me… I finally go on a date and this happens…"_

Kurama was saying something, Issei was speaking, but he couldn't hear them. Why couldn't he hear them?

" _You're Michael right? I've got to give you a piece of my mind. Why would the members of your church kick out a nun because she committed the act of limitless kindness? She healed a devil, and they punish her?"_

His knees felt weak, too weak, and they groaned as he suddenly found himself on them.

" _What do you mean by that? I'm not a devil spy! I mean I teach some of them at high school but – wait, wait put that sword down and let's talk about this –"_

His fists made contact with the floor, over and over until it was nothing but a bloody mess.

" _What do you mean by a war? They attacked ME! How are the devils connected to any of this?"_

There was a high pitched sound that he had never heard before, and it was only until he felt the back of his throat was burning that he realized it was coming from him.

Then all at once a large shadowy hand smacked him across the face.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

Abstractly, Issei was able to identify the sensations running through his body as the outcomes of anger. Most people falsely assumed that if one possessed a high level of intellect, they were automatically exempt and averse to fits of temper. They falsely held the notions that if one's mind was constantly working at the logical optimum, it would be rational enough to dissect the reasons for the volatile emotional state and properly sate it before it was externally displayed.

What balderdash.

Oh, he was angry, tremendously so, as the realization that this living nightmare that was his life was not entirely of his own origin. The first timeline had gone along smoothly, and in that world he had not possessed the Exodus Switch, however, then came the first loop. The entrance of the inter-dimensional messiah had caused time to wind back, and it was then that he was bestowed upon with the Exodus Switch. The reason for being giving this ungodly power that could have him rubbing shoulders of the world's greatest warriors and put him on even footing with gods was because it was needed, needed to purge out the unexpected element in the flow of time and history.

If only he had been astute enough to question the "rules" regarding Naruto's ability to tell him about the future, and the ominous fact that doing so would trigger a punishment in the form of erasing the man from existence. The punishment did not kill Naruto, instead, it removed him from existence, making him a wandering, incorporeal ghost for all of eternity.

Insanity of the loops had twisted Naruto's mind over and over again to the point that he had forgotten about the very fact that he did not belong in this world. What he had not forgotten had been filled in with numerous blanks or fake, facetious tales. The immortal shinobi had instead believed that Issei was some predetermined savior of mankind that was blessed with the Exodus Switch to show humanity's principles, whereas that was most definitely not the case.

Ah, how funny it was in hindsight. He was not special, he was not extraordinary, he was not fated for great things nor did he have some overarching destiny in place, he was just an individual that had been 'fortunate' enough to be granted the powers needed to save the world.

He had not known it then, nor had he known that he would not be able to truly die until he had accomplished that task. Of course, with each and every failure, Uzumaki Naruto's presence and massive chakra changed the world, this was of course most amplified with the fact that the shinobi's partner had also arrived.

Energy could neither created nor destroyed? Utterly irrelevant when it came to the magical world. However even the world would feel the vast influence of a source of energy that was beyond anything it was supposed to possess. Naruto's voluminous chakra was already stretching the threads of fate and destiny, but adding that of Kurama, who apparently possessed all the other eight bijuu within him, the threads whimpered, before deciding to generally flip the middle finger to everything as it broke.

So _history_ itself reformed and mutated to fit Uzumaki Naruto and Kurama.

The Elemental Nations that were supposed to exist in another dimension entirely, had their shinobi here, fooled by the mutations into believing that this had been their home since the dawn of time. Hidan had believed that it was the same place he had been buried that he had been found, and Orochimaru truly believed that he was over a million years old – and of course, he had the power to match.

Ah, his mind had gone off track. What was happening now? Oh yes, he had slapped Naruto with a shadow hand and Kurama looked just about ready to lunge an attack.

"Snap out of it." Maybe he should have said this before slapping the emotionally troubled sage? Ah, details, details.

He stared at Naruto, the immortal shinobi of legend seemed to be genuinely taken back, and there was a gaze in his eyes that Issei easily recognized. Of course he would recognize it, as it bore a striking familiarity to how Issei had felt upon the world first ending. Realizing that _he_ had been the reason that millions upon millions of lives had been lost.

"You're Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto does not have breakdowns. He does not go insane."

Was that somewhat hypocritical of him? Oh, yes, yes it was.

"You know what Uzumaki Naruto does? He gives the middle finger to the odds. He never backs down. He does not run away. He does not give in, he does not give up."

And now, for the coup de grace.

"Unless of course, I am mistaken, and you are not Uzumaki Naruto."

" **Boy…** "

"Shut up for a second Kurama. You can kill me after I get my word in."

In hindsight, telling one of the most powerful beings in the world to shut up was perhaps, not the smartest thing that he had done. However, for what hen

"Well? Are you not Uzumaki Naruto? Are you not the child of Prophecy?"

He stretched out his hands, and then from memory, he brought out the figures Naruto had mentioned.

"Are you not the one who spared Haku even after you thought he had killed your teammate? Are you not the one who told Neji that fate could go screw itself and he had to forge his own path in life?"

More and more images.

"Are you not the one who reformed Gaara by showing him the worth of his existence? Are you not the one who convinced Nagato that true peace could be achieved? ANSWER ME!"

"I am."

"I cannot hear you. That does not sound like a man who fought a goddess. That does not sound like a man who found peace for his world. I said, ARE YOU NOT UZUMAKI NARUTO?"

"I am!"

"Louder!"

"I am!"

"I said louder! Let the world hear you! Proclaim it to the heavens and back. Who are you? Who _are_ you?!"

He watched, watched as the sage stood upright, stood tall, his eyes burning something fiery, and then he let out a voice to the heavens.

"I AM UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

There it was, the shout that had cleared all the way to the heavens, the conviction that could kill gods and make termites slay dragons. The essence of the soul of what was arguably one of the greatest heroes in the entire universe.

Ah, this, this was mollifying.

"Then let's prove it."

"P-prove it?"

"What, you think I came here to fight you? Kill you?"

Ah, he could tell by the flutter of the eyelids and the momentary stall in their expressions that they had assumed that would be the case. He supposed he could not blame them, it was perhaps the first thing that would run through their minds when he had appeared. He was able to stand up to them, and probably _survive_ them, and ensure that he did not lose to them, but that did not mean he was near anywhere strong enough to defeat them.

Instead he walked towards them and stretched out his hands.

"I have never heard of a game where the final boss is in the main character's party, and they spend the entirety of the game going around taking out the smaller bosses before they have their final showdown."

He culled his lips into a smooth line.

"Let's make that happen."

Ah, if only he had a camera on him, he would have made a fortune selling Naruto and Kurama's expressions as stock photos for surprise and disbelief.

" **You've got to be joking.** "

"I assure you that my sense of humor is not that pathetic."

" **You signed up with that snake Orochimaru**."

Of course, that was the crux of the matter wasn't it? His technically evil alignment and his association with what was supposedly the greatest criminal mind of the Elemental Nations. Except…

"So did Uchiha Sasuke."

 **Fallacy Succeeded!**

He almost smiled at the manner in which his declaration had made both Naruto and Kurama recoil, almost, but smiling would be contrary to his current goal, so instead, he let his face fall into another impassive expression.

"I _did_ promise you one thing Naruto, and that hasn't changed. I _will_ defeat _all_ the anomalies."

He gazed into his eyes, ocean blue met dull black, an exchange of convictions, an affirmation of willpower, a promise, a declaration and a challenge all in one.

"Of course, I like to keep my friends close and my enemies closer."

" **And which exactly are we?** "

Ah, Kurama's question held weight. A very, very heavy weight that almost had Issei smirking at him.

"If you're worried about me using you to take out Orochimaru, then turning around and stabbing you in the back soon after, you have nothing to fear."

" **That wasn't an answer brat.** "

"No, no it wasn't."

" **Then what reason do we have to believe what you say?** "

Ah, this was it. The moment of truth, the moment in which he steeled his expressions, and then he rose his fist into the air, before he brought it down, directly at them.

"See for yourself."

The idea had come to him with the rest of his wayfaring memories. Naruto inferred that two high-level shinobi could read each other's thoughts and feelings simply by meeting fists.

And so, their fists connected.

His world detonated.

His eyes broadened, nostrils cleared and posture straightened. He could feel the sage's emotions, his kindness like a chorus of melting angels singing hallelujah. His limitless courage was a legion of gods chanting ominous praises in Latin. His sadness and regret were the sister muses, reciting lamentations to a relinquished lover.

There was joy, and there was sorrow, despair, and hope. Uzumaki Naruto was the embodiment of contradictions and paradoxes that somehow made sense, even when they didn't.

Then there was sacrifice. Sacrifice sung like the universal anthem of his very existence, in his every pore and every being, it sung and rung and screamed with sacrifice.

The Gamer knew not how to comprehend all of it.

He detached his fist, and he did his, a small silence lasting between the two.

"Well?"

The air was no longer as heavy as before, he noted, and he could tell from the numerous conflicting expressions on the sage's face that the young blond hero of legend was contemplating everything as well. Issei watched as he closed his eyes, the lids dropping and remaining in that position for three seconds, before they re-opened, purple orbs in place, and he let out a smile.

"You really are a pervert."

He grinned.

"Was there ever any doubt?"

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Beast's Prairie**

 **Palace of Tails**

And thus, he found himself secretly working with Kurama and Naruto as he kept tabs on Orochimaru. They would aid him in the search and destruction of the remaining anomalies, and provide a safe haven for the rest of Issei's companions that clearly did not appreciate the change of government.

It was in this situation that he had been approached by Tsubasa, as they two found themselves speaking privately.

Ah, there was of course something troubling her, something of a grave import that she wanted to tell him, and at the same time, she twiddled with her thumbs and scratched the back of her head as she let out a sigh.

"I'm scared."

Perhaps, of all the possibilities that a conversation with the blue-haired devil would have followed, he did not see this route.

"Scared?"

He observed her, closely, as her arms crossed underneath her breasts, and as her hands went to rubbing her arms in the manner that he could tell that she was nervous. Her heart beat fast, and he could analyze the telltale microscopic signs of discomfort. Human communication was more than seventy-percent body language, with the oral aspects making up a much smaller number, and women were more apt at displaying and utilizing this language than men. Maybe it was because men were conditioned from much younger to be more aloof and to blunt their emotional responses to situations, they had grown utilizing far less body language, and showing far less emotion.

"I died."

She had said, the two words coming out slowly and almost like a rasping whisper.

"I never told you about my life before I became a devil did I?"

No, no she had not. He knew however, and though it would be arrogant of him to claim that he knew everything… it was the bitter truth, he knew things he should not because he had lived through things they had not.

"No. You didn't."

He knew about Tsubasa's past. He knew that her parents had met their untimely demise when she was seven years old. He also knew that she had been left in the custody of her older sister.

He knew that Tsubasa had admired her sister. He knew this just as he knew that her older sister had been described as a nice, cheery, and bubbly person in contrast to Tsubasa's somewhat cynical outlook. Whereas Tsubasa was cynical, her sister had been open-minded. Where Tsubasa was sarcastic and blunt, her sister had been subtle and caring.

He knew that Tsubasa deeply endeavored to be as similar to her sister when she grew up. That the blue-haired girl who stood in front of him had possessed the original goal in life of desiring to be a nice and caring individual. That she had truly wished to be someone who endeavored to try and solve the problems of people, while being radiant and beautiful.

Ah, but reality was a cruel mistress, she was a cruel mistress indeed.

Her sister's optimistic appeal had been nothing but a facetious mask that had fooled everyone, everyone but herself.

"I had a sister… I loved her, I truly did. But… things happened, she got into the wrong sort she died, and then she left me alone. And then… and… then…"

It was an oversimplification of the highest order, he noted. Her sister's mask had existed because she wanted to protect Tsubasa, and when it crashed, so did everything else. The blue-haired girl in front of him had been dealing with death threats and knives being placed on her throat since she was twelve. She had spent a great deal of her youth eventually taking care of her drunken, drugged up, gambling addict of a sister, all for it to end during a burglary gone wrong as the kindly old woman who owned the store was a World War II veteran who had shot the girl's sister in the chest with a double-barreled shotgun.

"I got into some trouble, with the wrong folk. I was naïve then, or, well, _more_ naïve then. I thought that they would let me go once I paid them every penny… but…"

Ah, the domino fell, one thing led to another, and Tsubasa had been used as a courier girl for Yakuza, as she tried to pay off her late sisters' cumulated death. Of course, it was never quite that simple.

"I remember my first death."

She was somewhat shaky.

"Tossed off a cliff. Every part of me smashing into rocks as I fell. My heel could touch the back of my neck as my elbows smashed into my eyes. I wanted to scream but my ribs slammed into a jagged stone and took the breath out of my lungs."

She was shaking, shaking badly.

"Then I reached the bottom. I bathed in my own blood but I didn't cry because I thought that it was over… that my stupid, stupid, messed up life was finally over and I'd meet with my parents again."

There was brief silence.

"But then I came back. Sona, stood over me, and I found myself still in the land of the living."

"Tsubasa –"

"Then I died, _again_." She said, not letting him speak. "Cut up at the mercy of some psychopath that I thought was going to rape me, and then I was terrified when I thought you were going to join in… but you didn't, and you carried me away from them, from Freed and Dohnaseek."

"Tsubasa –"

"But in the end it didn't do much good. I remember the feeling of that light spear in my gut, it _burned_ , it burned so much, like someone was forced a searing hot iron unto my skin, and this time, I wanted to scream, but I couldn't even find the breath to do so."

"Tsubasa –"

"Then… that same burning, that light spear, it went straight through my face. My _face_. I could feel my eyeballs melt and there was pain, burning, overwhelming pain and I wanted nothing more than for it to stop… I wanted it to stop… I just wanted it to stop…"

He said nothing, his mouth opening and closing, instead he brought her face into his chest, closer until she buried it in and he placed his chin on her forehead. She did not cry, not because she felt she was too strong to do so, but because she had forgotten how.

"I-I don't want to die... I don't want to die again. Not again. It's stupid and it's selfish and – and –"

"Shh…"

He whispered, softly, because this time, he was being entirely honest.

"I won't let you die."

The words came out softly, however, that did not mean they lacked conviction. No, he had never been more convicted of anything else in his entire life.

"Y-you won't?"

"I promise."

I will not let you die.

I will not let you die.

I will not let you die.

The mantra repeated itself over and over, in his mind, and slowly, manipulating his own shadow, he engraved it strongly unto his own skin, feeling as the Gamer's Body argued against the damage, but eventually could not stop it from being strongly carved onto his right shoulder.

He would not let her die.

Even if it meant staring down Death in the face, or it meant creating a forbidden technique of immortality and invulnerability.

He would not let her die.

"Thank you, Issei."

He allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

"Anytime."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **[Present Day]**

"Sona! Sona come back!"

The Sitri Heir now turned clan head, maintained her gait as she walked down the stairs of the bedroom. Like she was going to listen to such nonsense, Hyoudou Issei had gone evil, signed up under the new government, and rumor had it that he was supposedly responsible for her sister's death and disappearance.

Nonsense! Nonsense! Nonsense!

Did Rias think she would believe any of that for the briefest of seconds? No, she would not believe it until she stood in front of the boy and listened to what he had to say. She would ask him for the truth, the honest, whole, and full truth and nothing but that.

She had lost her family, she had lost her country and she had lost her home, selfish and shortsighted as it was, she needed to know if Issei had truly joined the people responsible for doing all of this.

She stopped at the door, when she noticed a young blond man standing there, giving her the coolest of smiles, and she blinked upon realizing him. The young man she had met before most of this mess, who, if she recalled correctly, was none other than Kuoh's latest Guidance Counselor.

"You – Uzumaki Naruto-san. What are you doing here?"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I live here."

She shook her head. She had more issues to deal with right now than to query the man on his true identity. She attempted to move past him, only for him to repeatedly get in her way.

"Move aside Uzumaki-san."

"Why?"

"It is not particularly any of your business, just kindly move aside."

"I am afraid I can't do that. As a Guidance Counselor, it's my job to make sure that my students are safe."

"We are not in Kuoh Academy, and your argument is invalid, kindly move aside Uzumaki-san, I will not ask again."

He did not wish to listen to reason, as he still blocked her way, and Sona ignored the stirrings of a growl at the back of her throat. Perhaps he would listen to violence instead.

A sword of water appeared in her left hand, and she swung it at his face.

It shattered like glass before ever hitting him.

"That tickled."

This time, she did growl. "Tell me Uzumaki-san, are you intentionally seeking a provocation from me? Is this why you do not wish to move aside?"

He looked at her, and then sighed.

"Let's say I do move aside, what will you do then? Let me guess, you'll go looking for Issei."

She momentarily recoiled.

"And what of it?"

"Your parents just died, and you've just lost everything. Is your first response really to chase after Issei?"

She flinched, _hard_.

The cold reminder of her parents' demise was not entirely needed, and it was something she realized that she had simply pushed to the back off her mind in anger.

"You need time to grieve, to mourn and to heal. To recollect yourself and re-establish your priorities before you go looking for Issei filled with questions."

He shook his head.

"Because if he does not have the answers you are looking for, what then will you do?"

There was a part of her that begrudgingly knew his logic was right, that the events that had occurred recently had not yet truly sunk in, she had been pushing aside the feelings of loss in exchange for something else. On the battlefield she had been ignoring it in favor of focusing on the battle and her own imminent survival, but now, there was no such excuse.

Her… her parents were dead.

They were dead. Gone.

And her sister…

Her sister…

"Come on, there are some people that want to see you."

She glanced up, wondering what he was talking about, her feet shuffled against the floor, following him through the large ornate hallway of the palace, until she came to a stop in front of a door.

"I never had family growing up, and so, I never knew what it would have been like to lose them. But, what I did have… were friends. Friends that I could count on to cry for me, when I couldn't do so myself."

What was he –

"KAICHO!"

Sona almost stumbled back from the sheer speed at which she was barreled into by a familiar blonde sobbing boy.

"S-Saji?"

"Kaicho! We were so worried! We all thought you were dead! Oh, I'm so glad you're alive!"

"S-Saji, let go –"

"You can punish me as much as you want later kaicho! I'm not letting you out of my sight! We're never letting you go ever again!"

Sona blinked realizing that they were all there, all of them, from her Queen Tsubaki to the rest of her peerage, all of them were an incoherent sobering mess, none more so than the blonde pawn whose eyes were a thick puffy red.

They all proceeded to dogpile around her, leaving her staring as even the most stoic among them all, her Queen Tsubaki, joined in on the massive group hug, all of them crying out her name.

"KAICHO!"

"Sona-sama!"

"We've missed you!"

"We thought the worst!"

Sona almost sighed, as she stared at them but it was not a tired sigh, nor was it an exhausted or sad one, it was one of melancholy.

"What do I do with you bunch?"

Occupied as she was with reuniting with her peerage, she never once noticed when the blond Guidance Counselor walked around the corner of the room, before his form wavered into that of a dark-haired teen with a sad smile.

He promptly vanished into a murky well of shadows.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Central Neutral Territory**

 **Esau's Bar**

The large, buff, hairy man that was the brother of Jacob let out a sigh as he closed up the shop. Cleaning the counter and locking the front door, he realized that he had made quite a lot of sales recently. He supposed wartime usually meant more people were willing to sit down, take a drink and forget about their sorrows. T'was somewhat unfortunate that he made a living off the sorrows of other people, but it was what it was.

He turned his gaze to the person who had been sitting at the end of his bar, with his blue jacket and sword, he looked almost calm and peaceful, compared to the scantily clad demon that was lying on top of a penguin. He shook his head. That girl was just asking for someone to try something, but it wasn't really much of his business, this wasn't the good ol' days were fire and brimstone could rain down from the sky for Sodomy and sexual liberation.

He rubbed his chin. Actually, maybe calling them the 'good ol' days' was somewhat of a stretch… there were some things that happened back then that weren't really nice. Considering the whole slavery thing, and the 'rape this girl, marry her' that was the custom.

He sighed, ah well, none of that was his problem.

Instead, he moved over to the demon girl, and smacked her over the head.

She collapsed to the ground, blinking, as she stared over at her location, and he was about to wake the penguin up, but he stopped.

"This ain't another one of those yer exploding penguins again ain't it?"

She was far too wasted to give him an adequate response, and he sighed and slapped her across the face three times for good measure.

"H-huh?"

"Get goin' from my bar. I ain't runnin' no hotel service here."

"Huh? Wait! Why are you chasing me out? What about him!" she pointed across the bar, to the white haired man, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Esau rose an eyebrow.

"Oi! Vergil! There's a scrawny little girl 'ere sayin' that you should get out of my bar!"

She rapidly turned pale as the man's eyes opened, and he gave her a cool, relaxed glance.

"W-what? I didn't say anything like that! Honest!"

Reluctantly, Vergil's eyes closed back, and the man returned to sleep. Or rather, he would have had a murky well of shadows not appeared directly in the middle of the bar, and then a girl fell out from it, crashing directly into one of his tables, and causing Esau to swear.

"Damn it woman! I jus' got that table fixed up after that Hercules lad broke it!"

Esau however blinked, twice, as he realized just who had stumbled into his bar, as the woman stood, and brushed the dust off her clothes.

"Well I'll be. The Satan Leviathan… an' 'ere I heard you were dead."

"I _am._ I was never here, you never saw me here, so let's just keep it that way."

Esau rose an eyebrow. "Huh, that's the same thing the ol' crow-face told me when he popped up outta nowhere. Then he came back 'cause he couldn't find anywhere else to go."

She blinked. "Crow face?"

From the back of the bar, came a tall bearded man with twelve, thick black wings extended out from his back, and a relaxed smile on his face.

"Hello Serafall."

"Azazel?!"

"Would you like to join me for some tea? I'm sure we have a lot to discuss."

Esau sighed, so much for running a simple bar in the underworld.

"Satan girl… you're paying for the damages. Crow face, stop stealing my tea, Etna, tell your penguins to stop drinkin' my goddamned alcohol and you Vergil –"

The man gave him a look.

"Yeah. You… be you. Keep scowlin' around in that corner boy, it makes my bar look dangerous."

* * *

 **Kindly Read and Review**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	33. Compromise

**And FINALLY got back to updating this. Woo! Next Chapter will introduce a new arc to the story, as I felt that the Midas' Arc's aftermath is suitably done. The new Arc is suitably titled: Tournament Arc. It will be the third to the last arc, won't be heavily dark as the previous one, and it will have a shit ton of action and fight scenes with all your favorite characters.**

* * *

 **Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition**

 **Chapter 31:**

 **Compromise**

* * *

" _Haha! I have you now! DRESS BREAK!"_

" _Kyaa!"_

 _Breasts and breasts and breasts galore! Smooth skin, boobies and beautiful bodies! It was paradise and heaven all in one! Er… wait, wasn't that the same thing? Gah! Who cared! There were boobies in front of him! Nipples! Pink nipples! Oh and he could see their v –_

" _PERVERT!"_

 _Oh kami that kick had hurt._

" _GAH! Still worth it!"_

 _Yes, even as he lay on the ground fondling his balls, he cried manly tears. The tears weren't just because the kick had hurt, but because he was accomplishing feats of seeing the beautiful naked forms in front of him. Blood gushed freely from his nose at their forms, and he clenched his hand and let out a silent prayer to the chichigami!_

 _Thank you breast god for the boobies you have given! Oh thank you so much!_

 _Breasts were the heavens gift to mankind! Nothing would change that!_

" _Gah! I said I was sorry! Ouch – wait, not the face, not the face!"_

 _NOTHING!_

 **You have slept in your bed. HP and all Energy Sources fully restored.**

 **Previous Saved Data Files Fully Integrated into System.**

Two cold orbs slowly opened. He sat, scratching at the tip of his nose in irritation as the satin sheets around him felt colder than they had any right to be. The bed was nice, of the best money could buy or Gamers could steal, and the room was equal parts well ventilated and breezy, yet, there was this lingering feeling of warmth and heat that he could not quite place.

Was it from the dream? Was that it?

Except he knew that it was not just a mere dream. It was his mind subconsciously playing over his regained memories, playing them over and over and over again, and he did not know if it was to mock him or to reprimand him.

His past memories were influencing him more than he would like.

There were hundreds of timelines where he was nothing but a sheer, massive pervert that did not think anything through before he performed any action, and less than a dozen where he actually knew what he was doing. It felt as though those timelines were bleeding back into his personality and making him _"him"_ again.

His eyes flickered over to the clock, noticing it to just be a little early in the morning, and making him shake his head as he tried to sort out the jumbled mess of memories that were in his head.

Memories made a person. You were who you were because you remembered a chain of events that led to how you became who you were. You were a scientist because you had memories of toying around with a children's chemistry set your parents bought for you at age six, and remembered eventually going through to college studying said sciences. A martial artist was a martial artist because he had memories of learning the correct manners of fighting, the stances, the poses, and the techniques, and he could call upon that past memory to aid him in present time. Your memories were integral to you, and he found it both a blessing and a curse that so many of his memories were of him fighting, as such, he had regained the muscle memory of those thousands and thousands of different combat scenarios.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on whatever aspect he looked at it, he also had numerous memories of everything from stripping Rias' clothing off, to Akeno sucking off his finger, to kissing said Rias and Akeno, to both said Rias and Akeno sucking him off, to other girls doing such, and of course, to numerous, mind-numbing hours of sex. He had memories of having sex with so many girls that he wondered if it was even possible, from entire orgies with bunny-girls, to simple threesomes with Koneko and her sister, to having sex with divine beings like Aphrodite and angels like Gabriel.

Do not even get started on how he had made Gabriel of all people fall from heaven.

He remembered doing all of this, yet at the same time he technically had not done any of it, which was annoying and paradoxical in its own right.

He sighed, tsking under his breath, but only then to wave his hand in front of his mouth at the putrid odor of morning breath. Strange, he had gone days if not weeks without sleeping, and even longer without eating, but once he did finally sleep, his anatomy had started functioning like normal again. He noticed as his nails were long, almost reaching four inches, his hair was now reaching the start of his spine, tickling it softly and growing annoying bangs in the front which was starting to obscure his eyesight. Most notably, he could feel the slow beginnings of a stubble of hair underneath his chin, which he rubbed in contemplation.

He usually obtained a stubble and a beard much later, not now. Then again, nothing was as he remembered it, and it made for a confusing mix and match of what he knew and what he thought he did, and what was real and what wasn't.

He rose up from the bed, stretching his arms high to the ceiling, clad in nothing but a pair of plain grey boxers, as his eyes rapidly scanned around the bedroom of his mansion, raising both eyebrows up as he found it suspiciously empty of certain two individuals.

Ah, well. He moved into the bathroom, stopping as he stepped on the underwear on the floor, and rolled his eyes as he sighed, picking it up, rolling it into a ball neatly and perfectly threw it into a basket assigned for laundry. His feet shuffled as he moved against the mirror, eventually looking at himself for the first time in what felt like decades.

 **The Gamer**

 **Hyoudou Issei Lv. 469**

The title and words still stood over his head, inverted through the mirror, but his Perfect Vision perk corrected it for him almost instantly. It felt like years ago when he had attempted to wave off the floating words as though they were just a hallucination, and years even further still since he had been at a measly single digit level.

He instead turned a look to his own reflection in the mirror, frowning as he stared at it. His hair was long, far longer than before, the since black locks now reaching his shoulders and going down, and he could see the unruly wildness it possessed at the front, being a set of annoying bangs that attempted to obscure his vision, or at least would have, had it not been for his numerous eye related perks that made it unlikely. Speaking of eyes, he stared into his own orbs, realizing that both of them had gone a tad shade darker, which baffled him to no end as he wondered what reasonable connection there was between his eye color and anything else. Shaking his head, he effortlessly brought forth a toothbrush from the mirror-cabinets, and then was about grabbing the tube of toothpaste, only to find it suspiciously missing.

He let out a brief sigh when he then instead noticed his familiar spring up from the faucets, a bright grin on her face.

"Morning master!"

"Morning Dil-chan. Please don't tell me you got rid of the toothpaste tube so that I would have to use you to brush my teeth."

She gave a smiling grin that was far too wide, and far too conspicuous, and he merely shook his head as he sighed.

"You can use me as toothpaste master!"

"I don't believe I would feel comfortable doing that."

"You can use me as mouthwash then master! Make Dil-chan swerve and spin and use your tongue to push all over Dil-chan! Dil-chan wants to be inside you and feel as your tongue and mouth gargles her!"

"It's a little bit too early for vore Dil-chan."

"But Dil-chan would like it master! Please?"

The puppy-dog eyes seemed to be his weakness. Especially when she gave him that particular look. He let out another sigh.

"Ten seconds."

Of course his familiar had a variety of uses, and the more he leveled up, the more uses and abilities of his she learned. Being smarter made her smarter by default, she could change her chemical make-up to emulate almost any liquid at this point that if he truly wanted to, he could kill people by having her turn into colorless, odorless water, and then have her transform into acid or methanol or liquid cyanide once she had been swallowed.

And he just had to have been thinking of this while he was gargling the liquid slime-girl in his mouth. Oh how convenient.

"Ah- M-aaaaaasssssttttteeeeeeerr..."

 _It's mouthwash. Think only of mouthwash_. Needless to say, his familiar did indeed taste exactly like mint-flavored mouthwash, if lemon flavored mouthwash could moan in your mouth that is. Ten seconds exactly, and he released the slime-girl back out, and of course, she had to be panting and covered in liquids and saliva that immediately cast a completely different, and of course, outright perverted picture.

 **Perverted Situation!**

 **Gained +5 Strength, +5 Vitality, +5 Dexterity!**

Oh, screw you too Exodus Switch. Screw you too.

Shaking his head, he at least now had fresh breath, and he stared at his teeth and noticed as they shone in the mirror. No, they _literally_ shone, as in, they emitted bright light like someone had flicked on a torch and sparkled like nothing before.

 _Ping!_

 **Gained Temporary Buff: [My Shiny Teeth and Me!] Lasts 6Hours.**

Oh good, now he could stun people with his smile, instead of his dazzling personality.

Though it made him wonder if a Tooth Fairy existed? Was there actually a Tooth Fairy? Considering Vampires and Unicorns were real, what was the stretch of the Tooth Fairy being real too?

Of course, that would entail entering into the Faelands, who were supposedly said to have a strong guardian bound by oath to never let intruders pass without explicit permission from the rulers of the Fairy Faction.

He rubbed his chin in slow contemplation. So far, the only faction he knew nothing of was the Fairy Faction, and that said a lot about their impartiality and their isolationist culture. There was a war going on between other factions of the underworld, and they were content to sit out on it and watch from the sidelines snorting pixie dust and getting high on unicorn farts.

Not that he knew if such a thing was possible, but he liked to dream.

"Would you like me to bathe you as well master~?"

He froze at the question, unbidden memories of their spar returning to the forefront of his mind, of being covered completely and utterly in smooth, slippery –

"D-don't worry about it Dil-chan."

"But master… Master need to bathe!"

"N-not really Dil-chan."

"Master~! Bathe!"

There was the flurry of rapid footsteps climbing into the master bedroom, and within seconds, there was a blonde haired young woman wearing an apron that read 'Eat the Cook' and her eyes immediately darting around the bathroom. Correction, she was wearing _only_ an apron that read 'Eat the Cook'.

"I heard masturbating! Who's doing it, and why am I not involved?"

"A lone teenage boy living in his own personal giant castle with two beautiful girls yet he chooses to masturbate in the bathroom? Oh, Mittelt, you insult me."

Mittelt's eyes scanned his form, as though searching for something, and then, it seemed she found it, as her eyes lit up like a brilliant lighthouse on foggy beach, and she immediately ran up to him, leaving him unable to do anything as her lips smacked into his, and she barreled him over, sitting on his crotch as she deepened the kiss even further.

When she eventually did rise up for air, he could not help but give her a strange look.

"What was that for?"

"You're back. You're really back."

Her elation could not be hidden, as her entire form seemed to resonate giddiness and joy especially as her eyes regained that teasing appeal to them.

"What do you mean I'm back? I was never gone."

She twirled her hair, the long, golden waterfall falling smoothly at her side that Issei could not stop himself from allowing his hands to move through on sheer instinct.

"The other you never joked around. He was okay, but… he wasn't you, _you_. I'm glad the old you made a comeback."

He could not help the cold spike that had wrung itself into his chest. Had the difference been _that_ much? _That_ noticeable? Sure he wasn't running off on cold logic now that he had experience and foreknowledge about events, and because he felt wiser and more mature due to his older memories surfacing, but had he really been that bad?

If Mittelt's expression was anything to go by, it seemed he was.

"Well I'm here to stay. Comebacks, Come-fronts and come-insides, the Hyoudou Issei specials."

She facepalmed. "Oh great, you came back with cheesy puns."

He put up a faux air of offence. "I'll have you know that was a great pun."

"It was a cheesy one and you know it Ise-kun. It's so cheesy, it _grates_ on the nerves."

He wanted to say something, but instead just allowed his mouth to twitch into a smile on seeing her satisfied smirk.

"You won't be thinking it's cheesy when I'm done doing all three."

She went slightly pink at the cheeks. "Perv. But I like you pervy. Ooh, I know! Tsubasa went for a morning jog, let's bring her in for a threesome! Oh! Dil-chan can join in to make it a foursome… with tentacles and she could grow this large, bulgy – mmph!"

He didn't think he had kissed anyone faster in his entire life, out of the dire passion not to give Dil-chan any more ideas. Though it seemed too late for that as the familiar was already contemplating the idea.

He disconnected his lips from Mittelt, only to raise an eyebrow as he noticed her face utterly flushed, as he doubly realized that she was out of breath.

"W-w-where did you l-l-learn to kiss like that?"

What was she talking about? He had always kissed like that with –

Realization dawned on him. Experience from other timelines meant importing certain muscle memory or instincts from them as well, and it just so happened that kissing was one of the things he had done countless times. Rias, often tasted fruity, like apples or strawberries, and he could recall often sucking deeply on her lip, or using his tongue to cater to her incisors. Akeno, more often than naught, enjoyed when he nibbled or bit her lips instead, and their kisses were hungry and ravaging, as the woman often tasted like the teas she brewed. Koneko's kisses had been soft, tender, and the girl tasted like sweets and sugar. He remembered this, and he remembered how they tasted and how they kissed and it seemed all that experience kissing was bleeding into him now.

It was just like much earlier, when Naruto had once pointed out that the reason he could take on opponents greater than his level, despite previously having no fighting experience, was based on subconsciously utilizing his battle experience of dozens of timelines. That was how, so long ago, he had pulled off the Leaf Whirlwind on a giant sewer rat without even knowing how the move worked.

"Ise-kun?"

With the invocation of his name, his mind returned to the present, and he grinned at the girl.

"Sorry, kind of hard to think when you're straddling me like that. You know there's literally just my boxers stopping me right?"

She gave him an odd blink, raising her hand to cover her eyes. "Ise-kun, why in the world are your teeth so shiny?"

"That's because master used Dil-chan! Dil-chan makes everything bright and nice!"

She gave him a lopsided grin, leaning forward against him. "Did he now?"

He rose an eyebrow. Ah, how did he diffuse this again?

"Mittelt, I think this is the part where you remember you were cooking something and run off realizing it's burning."

It was almost comical to him, though he did feel somewhat bad realizing he was right, as her eyes widened and she instantly scrambled off him and out the bathroom yelling about breakfast. He let out a brief chuckle, before he strolled out of the bathroom, with his familiar plopping once more on his shoulders in her shrunken form.

He descended down the flight of stairs, having easily memorized the layout of his castle at this point that he did not need the minimap to direct him, before eventually arriving at the brief intersecting corridor that would lead to the numerous attractions of the manor. Whereas he had previously had his doubts about the castle, considering it was quite literally in a borderline between the Faelands and the Land of Fiends, it seemed to make a good home. Considering he was now a 'General' or 'Commander' or some other vaguely important sounding rank in both the 'Royal Empire of Hedon' and Orochimaru's domain, he decided to stay somewhere _not_ incredibly close to either.

Of course he had been given lands and mansions and what not, but he didn't really need all those things. Ironic as it was, he never considered himself a superficial person. Neither the desire for excessive wealth nor a burning passion for money existed within him. This of course did not mean that he did not appreciate what good money could buy, it just meant that he wasn't obsessive about it and was content with whatever he got.

He had eventually made his way over to the kitchen area, a large, open and spacious room which could easily be dubbed the Sous Chef's wet dream. Vividly and diligently aligned were cooking tools and instruments of all sorts, likewise were the pots and pans that were made of better stuff than the cast iron versions, and likewise existed the beautiful red tiling alignment which went with the state-of-the-art stove, refrigerators and ovens. His nose could instantly pick up on the smell of burning eggs and bacon, and he laughed freely as he watched Mittelt fumble around in the kitchen trying to salvage what little she could.

His eyes had of course lingered on her exposed backside for a few seconds, before she eventually noticed him.

"Ise-kun! I er… breakfast might take a while."

He merely smiled as he grabbed a free apron and tied it around his waist.

"Need a hand?"

She blushed. "Um… thanks. I wanted to cook breakfast for all of us, but t-they didn't exactly cover Home Ec classes in Heaven."

That was expected he supposed. It wasn't like he was actually expecting Angels to learn how to cook in heaven. Did they even need to? He assumed that Angels did not need to eat at all, but that must have changed when they fell.

"Don't worry about it. In fact –" In one smooth motion, he whisked her up, so that the girl was sitting on his shoulders, and Dil-chan was sitting on her own shoulders.

"I-Ise-kun? W-what are you doing?"

He was shirtless, and she was wearing nothing but an apron, but at this point, the skin on skin contact felt natural, almost calming to him even. There wasn't even a sexual drive to it, which he found oddest of all.

"You just sit tight, allow your big brother Issei to do all the cooking."

She laughed. "Big Brother? Oh, you're into that kind of thing, is that right _oni-chan_?"

He couldn't see her face and she couldn't see his, so he let his lips twitch as he responded.

"Perhaps."

She went silent for a second, and he was thankful that he had mastered Poker Face well enough not to chortle out and ruin the effect. He eventually felt her hands land on his hair and head as she giggled.

"You know, part of me feels you're joking right now Ise-kun, but another part of me feels I should roll with it, and a last part of me feels if I do, I'll never go back."

He felt a pair of hands instead pinch his cheeks. "You'll be Ise-chan for now. Then we'll see if you can be promoted to oni-chan status."

Unsurprisingly, he laughed.

"Ise-chan huh? I think I can live with that."

With a flick of a pan and a toss of a ladle, he began whistling a familiar tune to himself as he felt his body go on auto-pilot, moving, cutting, dicing, whisking, cracking and sizzling all at once. Ingredients and recipes flowed through his mind, Master Assassin's Grace and Perfect Vision working in tandem, as he began cooking, all the while listening to Mittelt's 'oohs' and 'ahs'.

Perhaps most impressively was the fact that he ensured that the girl sitting on his shoulders was stable, ensuring that she didn't fall or move out of place and felt perfectly comfortable whilst he worked his culinary magic.

"You know Ise-chan, if fighting bad guys for a living doesn't work out, you could always become a chef."

"I wouldn't make a very good one – I'm too fit."

She crossed her legs under his chin, and on his chest.

"What do you mean?"

"Never trust a thin chef. If the guy really enjoys the taste of his food, and enjoys cooking and eating it, there's no way in hell he'd be looking thin and scrawny."

Or so the Akimichi clan had believed.

He heard the sound of her laughter as he felt his ears tickle her thighs.

"I don't know about that Ise-kun. I hear housewives and mothers really enjoy the taste of their food and enjoy the feel-good fuzzy feeling it brings, but I don't think all of them are chubby."

Her voice trailed off into a wistful sigh. "I wonder how it feels... to have a mother. Your mother, she's the one who taught you how to cook isn't she?"

The concept of his parents were a bit of a sore topic that he only missed a slight step, ever so undetectable by the fallen angels on his shoulders, as he let out a somewhat reluctant smile.

"A-actually, no. My mom pampered me a lot, so I never really got to learn directly from her, just the bits and pieces I observed from watching her cook."

"Really? So how are you this good?"

He shrugged, ignoring the fact that the action placed certain parts of her anatomy on to him that was beginning to stimulate a reaction down below.

"I cheat. A sprinkle of skills here, some past knowledge from different timelines here and then it all comes together."

He felt as the girl's hands that had been roaming through his hair come to a stop.

"Different timelines?"

"Numerous past timelines and versions of the world. I was going to bring it up this morning with you and Tsubasa… where is she anyway?"

Oh, wait, his minimap indicated that she was in the Castle's gym.

"She's still jogging… so… what do you mean by different timelines?"

"Ah, ah. No telling. I'll explain it to both of you at the same time, so that I don't have to repeat it, and so it doesn't seem as though I'm favoring one of you over the other."

It was perhaps the most blatant lesson he had learned from his numerous past memories, as he had soon discovered that Harems were somewhat fickle things. Wrong timing, too little time spent, or certain actions could and would incite insecurity and/or envy, and those were two deadly things that killed relationships faster than anything else.

She playfully tugged at his hair.

"Oh that's not fair Ise-chan."

"You know it is Mittelt."

He heard her sigh.

"Fine, fine. Can you at least tell me what I was in these… other timelines? Was I an awesome singer? Maybe a celebrity? Or… did… did I still remain an angel?"

He smiled. "You were –"

His mind instantly froze.

 _Dead._

 _Dead._

 _Dead._

In every single timeline he could think of that had Mittelt in it, in all of them that he could remember, Mittelt was dead. She had either been killed by Rias or Akeno, going along with Raynare's plan. All of them. There was not a single exception as far as he knew, and as such, Mittelt was someone who ended up dying horrid, pointless deaths. Every. Single. Time.

"Ise-chan?"

Ah, this was troubling. Did he lie? It was a tiny white lie, one that would have absolutely no real harm except but to make her happier, but it would be a lie nonetheless. He was tired of lying, really, it pissed him off that he was a person whose name meant honesty, and yet he told lies all the time.

So solution? Diversion.

Faking a sneeze had never been easier, especially when he had indeed inhaled a brief dust of pepper, which then caused his head to jerk forward and backwards at the right time and manner. If done precisely, and accurately considering that Mittelt was not wearing any underwear –

"I-I-Ise-chan! You're h-hair is tickling my –"

"Er, sorry about that. Though Mittelt, I wonder, once I introduce you to my parents will you still walk around the house with nothing but an apron on?"

"I-I-I-Introduce me to y-y-your p-p-parents?!"

Oh bless her soul that she was easily flustered.

"Well, eventually."

Or, once he went back and restored their memories as he confirmed that the world was no longer in dire threat and no one (Orochimaru) would ever take them as hostages to use against him. No, stop thinking about that.

"Or you don't want to eventually meet my parents someday?"

"W-what? No! I mean, of course I would love to meet your parents! But it's just… you know, I'm a couple of hundred years old and you're sixteen."

Technically, if he combined his past experiences, he was much older than her.

"I'll be seventeen next month, so no worries."

She playfully bopped him over the head just as he flipped a pancake in the air.

"And what would they think of the naughty fallen angel, draped all over their little boy?"

"My dad would probably nod his head with tears in his eyes and my mom would probably try to make you eat more to fatten you up and make sure your hips were fit for child-bearing."

The sound of sizzling bacon reverberated.

"R-Really?"

"That's the most likely outcome."

"Y-you weren't kidding when you said you were pampered Ise-chan. I'm not the expert, but I don't think that's how most parents react."

He let out a fond smile. "I guess so, but my parents aren't most parents. I'm the only child you know? And my mom… she had three miscarriages before finally having me, so I suppose they usually let me get away with things they really shouldn't most of the time because of it. They love me a lot, and I feel the same."

He did not say anything as he felt the girl climb down from his shoulders, and he felt her petite arms wrap around his waist, as she drew him close.

"If it helps Ise-chan, I understand just how your parents feel about you. You're one of a kind Ise-chan, and don't you forget it."

He felt his breath hitch in his throat.

"T-thank you, Mittelt."

He had almost completely lost count of how long he had stood there, in the girl's embrace, unable to say anything and ignoring the strange stinging sensations in his eyes that made no sense.

"Ise-chan! The food! Save the food!"

He blinked, before immediately removing the burning pancake from the pan with a slight awkward smile. Still however, the breakfast set was complete, and there was everything from sausages and eggs, to pancakes and toast.

"Um, Ise-chan, isn't this a bit much? I don't think Yura-chan or Dil-chan can eat this much."

Those were a lot of chans, he fondly noted.

"It's not just for us, we're having guests over."

"Guests? Who?"

"Oh, the Yokai King, the Vampire King, the Dhampire of Death and an interdimensional messiah."

Brief silence.

"Ise-chan, has anyone ever told you how amusing your life sounds?"

He smiled.

"You have no idea."

He felt the girl squirm slightly as she buried her head into his chest.

"But… Ise-kun… could you… could you do something for me before that?"

He did not even have to hesitate before he responded "Anything."

"Well… It has to do with Ray-chan…"

~~~~~~~~~~~Dragon of Dragons: Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Off the Coast of the Pacific**

 **Private Cruise Ship**

Raynare let out a silent groan of enjoyment as she felt the expert hands of the masseuse gingerly apply the ointment and other sun blocking salves unto her back. Clad in in a simple black bikini and a matching sultry G-string, she felt rather relaxed with the shades on her eyes as her back was suitably pampered. A chapman and straw lay to her side, with a nice lemon placed at the edge of the glass, and of course, there was an interesting magazine that she could peruse at her pleasure directly in front of her.

This was the life. She didn't have to worry about any faction issues, about any possible Great War once more breaking out, or about any form of annoying fighting and conflict that she'd have found herself embroiled with. All she had done, was position herself at the right place at the right time, gotten into the good graces of some young horny millionaire prince who no doubt wanted to claim her in bed as he went on his cruise, and then she found herself enjoying the world's finest cuisine, the finest of alcohol, and the finest of living. Of course, with a little bit of Fallen Angel memory magic here and there, and her own natural charm and seductive prowess, she had the prince himself sucking off her toes and licking her feet like a loyal puppy.

She had wealth and she had power, or at least, compared to the humans, she might have well been some form of goddess sent from high above. Which of course, is quite what she intended fully doing. Demonstrating bits and pieces of her Dark Light abilities would easily earn her both fear and worship, and in no time, she would have her own small army of minions and devout worshipers bowing down to her and bending to her every whim. She would make herself a powerful goddess, and reap the benefits for as long as her extended lifespan allowed.

It wasn't as though there was some Universal Statute of Secrecy that the Factions needed to follow, there were no rules in place saying that you could not reveal the supernatural to humans. She was certain that World Leaders all had contracts to extremely powerful supernatural beings and Devils, utilizing their powers to further their own goals, but keeping it tremendously on the down low because they wanted to monopolize all that power for themselves.

Humans had drawn the short end of the straw unfortunately, with only a few of them actually possessing great power needed to put up a fight against the supernatural. She also supposed that was why Sacred Gears were a thing, a power given to humans in order to ensure that they were capable of protecting themselves from other beings.

She snorted. The good that did when Devils hoarded humans with Sacred Gears, and other factions like her unfortunately stole them for herself. She sighed, recalling how she would have ended up with the Twilight Healing, had Hyoudou Issei not shown up and thrown a complete wrench into all her plans.

"Oh, yes, that's the spot…!"

She let out a small groan as it felt as though the masseuse had suddenly evolved his technique, and the lotion he was using had changed too, feeling somewhat cold and tremendously smooth, but yet it was slimy. His hands rapidly worked on her shoulder blades, then he trailed them together towards the nape of her neck, then down, following across her spine until he reached a position where her tailbone was supposed to be, and then worked his way back upwards.

"Ohh… yes…"

She let out a hiss as she felt the hands massage the spot where her wings would usually sprout form, as it was a rather sensitive spot for Fallen Angels and Angels alike, and the cool lotion he was using sent tiny sparks of static down her spine from the sensations of his thumb expertly kneading the spot.

"That feels _good_ ~…. What lotion are you usi –"

She stopped talking. She stopped talking because she spotted the masseuse far away, at the other end of the ship's open promenade deck, and yet, she could still feel hands lathering all over her back.

"It's called slime-girl. Or I like to call it, Dil-chan's One Thousand and One uses. Heals sickness, regenerates lost limbs, and works as a great lubrication agent for your special sexual needs."

Oh fuck no.

She tried to stand, but of course it was far too late at the point, as her entire body was instantaneously engulfed in slime, in sticky, cold, liquid slime that made her unable to as much as move.

"Really Hyoudou… it's been a week. Just a week… couldn't you let me at least enjoy this a little longer?"

She felt a cold breath on her back. Her danger senses were tingling because she could not see his face, she had the back of her neck exposed towards him and she had no idea what was going through his mind.

"I'm only here to ask a question. Answer truthfully, and I just might consider not killing you."

She laughed. "Really, do you think that I'd fall for –"

The slime coating her body turned blazing hot as her clothes evaporated, and she felt as though she had suddenly been dipped into boiling water, causing her to wince. Then rapidly, the burning sensations vanished and was replaced with a cool, chilling one, which then started sending burning sensations to sensitive areas and it didn't take long for her to realize that the slime was an aphrodisiac of some sort.

"I like you, Raynare, I really do. So we can either play the 'I bluff, you bluff' game, or I can cut straight to the chase and torture you to death with sexual pleasure."

So Hyoudou Issei no longer jerked around. That was both comforting and somewhat frightening.

"Now, question time. When you asked me to be your boyfriend, was your intention to lead me on and then kill me at a park afterwards?"

Her heart froze. She had felt the organ stop beating the very second he asked that question because he should not have known that fact. Hell, no one should have known that fact, not even Mittelt or Kalawarner, she had not told anyone and it was something that she had planned because she would have gotten off on seeing his anguished and betrayed face when she eventually ran him through with a spear of light.

Of course, none of that had ever happened because rather than accepting, he turned her town and made her cream herself in public, to which she had kicked him in the balls and angrily stormed off filled with embarrassment. So how then did he know her prior plans? How did he know what she had been planning to do?

She could always lie, it wasn't like he would be able to tell, except there was the possibility that he could indeed tell that she was lying and she did not know where that would lead. Would he truly kill her? She could not tell because she could not see his face, but his tone of voice was absolutely frigid despite the joviality of his words, and she did not know what that meant.

She grit her teeth. She couldn't even properly beg in this situation because he could not see her face, and her words would just fall on deaf ears, so what was she to do?

"Come now Issei, all that is in the past isn't it? I mean –"

She bit down on her lower lip once she felt the slime covering her superheat to boiling levels once more. Her mind was already going blank and she could feel her breathing rapidly increase as she fought back the urge to let out a raspy, desperate moan. It was good, it was better than good, yet at the same time, it was horrible. She was somehow being incredibly aroused, and then instantly turned off in the span off a second, which was easily messing with her internal organs and her mind that was confused as to what state she truly was in. Adrenaline would pump in, then be cut off, then pump in again unsteadily, just as her heartbeat would quicken, then slow, and then quicken again.

It was the most insane form of torture she had ever heard of or experienced, and she could quite literally die from the arousal, or more accurately from the excessive, rapidly flowing adrenaline.

"Yes or no."

She grit her teeth. "Come on Issei- _kun_ , it's me Raynare… we – we had that one good moment together… you know, when you took out those exorcists, and the other time when you fondled me… I mean –"

She let out a dry gasp as the slime heated again, but this time it was far much hotter and it felt as though tiny needles were stimulating every single part of her anatomy as her eyes began to glaze over. She felt her entire body get ready for pleasurable release, only for it to be utterly deprived in a single second, and left her throat burning from the undeclared screams of frustration.

"Yes. Or. No."

"Yes! YES! Okay?" She screamed, panting "I would have asked you out, let you believe I fancied you, gone on a date and pretended I was into you and then stabbed you through the chest at the end, and watched as you bled out on the floor! Is that what you want to hear?"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Why?"

"W-what?"

"Why? I don't see any reason why you'd have to have gone through that charade. Why didn't you just kill me when you first met me? There was nothing and no one stopping you from doing so, so why the ruse?"

She bit her lip. "You can't seriously expect me to answer that."

"I do."

"I did it because."

"Because?"

"Because I could. Because I would have enjoyed it. Because I would have pleasured myself that night with your anguished and betrayed face in my mind. Because I would have given some stupid human virgin boy hope and some possibility of love, and then ripped it all away from him in seconds. Because I would have laughed about it and joked around about it and then forgotten about it within the next month. Because that's what I do, and because that's who I am."

There was a brief moment of heavy silence in which he did not say anything, and it made her nervous, his silence was completely unnerving and she did not know what it meant.

"I see."

She bit her lip. What did he see?

"Well, then... I guess you'll have to do."

W-what?

The slime covering her body receded, vanishing all together and she finally allowed herself to turn, around, gazing into the eyes of the boy as they seemed to be twinkling in mirth.

"I'm not going to ask you to change who you are, cause that'd make me sort of a hypocrite. Well, not unless you want to, and not unless you feel that you don't like who you are. But, I will ask you to share in your experiences."

She contemplated slowly if the teenage boy in front of her was insane. Was he really offering what she thought he was offering? Was he blind, daft or just plain out stupid?

"Look I get that you're some karmic guru of sexual pleasure or something, and yes, you do make me feel really good, but if you're interested in anything more than casual sex, you're out of luck and you're barking up the wrong tree. I don't do romance."

"Mittelt seems to think otherwise. She thinks you're just lonely, and you try to hide it, to hide it from everyone, even yourself."

Mittelt, of course it had to be Mittelt. She had always been like that.

"Tch. Mittelt is soft. I'm nothing like her – I'm cruel. I manipulate people without a second thought and can harm them without a second thought. I seduce, I betray, I destroy. You'd be disgusted with me in seconds."

He placed a hand on his chin. "You're kind of selling yourself short here."

"Am I? Well let's look at some facts then. You saved my life back there, in that golden hell-hole. If you hadn't swooped in like Prince Charming I'd be dead, a golden corpse like the rest of my entire race. Oh, and how'd I thank you? Oh wait, that's right, I didn't. I subtly told you to go fuck yourself, when you were looking for allies, and came here with a thong riding up my ass as I bathed in the sun. Am I the type of person you want to be giving googly-eyes and buying roses for?"

"Googly-eyes are so last decade, and I prefer bluebells, so there's no problem here."

She rolled her eyes. "Cute. Look Issei, just take the offer of casual sex on the table or leave it completely. I'm happy, You're happy, Mittelt's happy – everyone is happy."

"So you'd prefer to simply have sex with someone, sleep by their side, be intimate, and be satisfied with nothing else?"

"YES!" She said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world "No relationships means no commitment, no chaining or leashing myself down to another person, no limiting my freedom in what I can or can't do, no one to give me crap or tell me stuff about their day or burden me with problems I don't give a shit about! It's freedom at its core, the entire reason I'm a Fallen Angel!"

She was panting at this point, but she didn't care, not minding one bit as her breasts heaved and dropped with every inhale and exhale, and as a small layer of sweat began to show on her naked body, one to which Issei merely gazed at plainly.

"That sounds lonely."

"That sounds like you're not getting the point." She bit out.

"But you've never been in any form of relationship before have you? So how can you claim it's perfect? That's like saying that chocolate Ice Cream is the best in the world when you've never tasted any other flavor."

She rolled her eyes again. For Heaven's sake why in the world was he so damned persistent about this?

"Alright, let's make a challenge to see who's right."

The look he gave her was not one that she was entirely comfortable with, seeing the utmost determination in them.

"Six Months." He said, "For six months, join Mittelt and I. Eat the same foods we do. Watch the same things, sleep on the same beds, laugh together, fight together, scream out each other's names at the top of our lungs together in bed or otherwise."

He grew closer, and she could not help but gaze unto his eyes, cold, midnight black eyes that reflected like the clearest of night skies illuminated by millions and millions of stars.

"We look at each other – like this –"

His gaze seemed to be searching, those starry orbs making contact with hers and leaving her with a sensation as though someone was looking past what could be seen in her front, and towards what could be seen deep, deep within. His pupils dilated slowly, and he continued to give her the gaze that she was certain would have sent lured so many guileless angels in heaven to fall, and then to fall even further as they would gleefully charge against Michael just to be receive the gaze once more. Saliva coalesced in her mouth as she said nothing and he continued.

"We touch each other – like this –"

His left hand had traced itself up, moving from her neck, to her chin, all the way to her earlobes, to her hair, tracing smoothly through her black locks and ever so slightly touching her scalp, before running back down and finding the fingers underneath her chin, and on her lip.

"And we kiss each other – like this –"

His lips made contact with hers, and explosives detonated in her vision. Exploding, brilliant, dazzling, with lights a cornucopia of colors as though rainbows and stars had fused, the feeling of euphoria was a static discharge that burned and chilled at the same time. Her lips had simply made a light, gentle impact with hers, and it drove every single bit of her wild, every pore felt like it was bursting with energy, every hair felt itself stand alive, and every part of her wanted to claim those lips with the fiery passion of parched man gulping water.

"And once the six months are up, once they are finished, if you can't leave and go back to your life free of commitment – you lose."

Her heart was thumping, beating fast, faster than should have been possible, even as she could feel the blood rushing through her veins as the pounding in her ears grew louder. She was feeling something, something that she knew was not lust, because she knew what lust felt like, and she had felt it a thousand times, and this – this was not it.

"And," her voice sounded meeker than normal, and she cursed herself for it "And if I can? If I can leave?"

He gave her smile that would not be out of place on an angel, that would not be out of place on the beings of divine whose sole purpose for existing was to serve as paragons of virtue and righteousness, and it suited him, it suited him more so than she would like to admit, as her lips still burned from the contact.

"You would've won our little bet… but you'd have lost something much more valuable."

She bit on the downside of her lip, her mind instantaneously wracking with questions and answers and an overwhelming desire to both refuse and accept.

"I torture for fun." She said.

"I'm a masochist." He shot back.

"I kill people at the slightest provocation." She argued.

"The world is overpopulated anyway." He shrugged.

"I'm _evil_."

There, that was her final argument, only for her to watch as he let out a deep laugh, then, his form was overshadowed by a large, demonic looking shadow, snarling maliciously into the ocean, before vanishing.

"So am I."

She bit her lip, wondering how in the world this could even be possible. This was Hyoudou Issei was he not? Was he not the same teenage boy who had looked like a clueless virgin? Why did he – how did he –

"Why," she found herself saying "Why are you so determined not to leave me alone? I wouldn't go through half this trouble if I was in your shoes, so why?"

Another smile, this one, more serene, relaxed, like a fisherman who was confident in the hoist of his reel and in the quality of his catch.

"Because I want to see your true self. The _true_ you. Unfiltered, unbroken, unrestrained. Because it would make you happy, and nothing would make me happier."

This was insane and she knew it, _he_ was insane and she knew it, yet, there was a brief lull and appeal to that insanity, and so, she found herself accepting his outstretched hand as he pulled her close, and gave her a brilliant wonderful smile, that would have made Michael's look like a pale imitation.

"Welcome back Raynare."

~~~~~~~~~~ DxD – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Hyoudou Issei's Castle**

The Gamer let out a yawn as he gave a glance at the perfectly arranged table. It seemed Mittelt had decided that she would not be joining them for breakfast, instead gushing and jumping up and down now that her Ray-chan was back, and she had proceeded to give Raynare a tour of the entire castle. Of course, the wealthy atmosphere had suit her just fine, and Raynare had jokingly stated that all he had to do to convince her was say that he was rich.

He blinked when Tsubasa came down from the stairs, humming to herself before she stopped in front of him and give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Sorry, Issei, can't stay for breakfast today. There's something going on back on earth that I have to take care of for now."

"Really? Is it anything I can help with?"

"No, no, it's nothing major. I'll be back soon!"

With that, her devil wings sprouted, as she used the teleportation portal Issei had eventually set up that directly linked his castle to the human world, and was gone in a spray of lights leaving him sitting alone as he awaited the arrival of his guests.

Well, not truly alone, because Dil-chan was always with him. Lovable familiar that she was. It did however, give him some time to glance through the skills he had gotten from Kuroka, as the uses and abilities seemed to vary.

 **Spatial Manipulation**

 **You want personal space? Who doesn't? Now, you have the ability to set control to your own personal space, and make sure that it is never invaded again!**

 **Skills:**

 **Space: Orb [Passive] Lv. Max:** **With this skill, everything at arm's length of you is your personal space separate from that of the actual world. This enables you to control or bend it to your desire, adding or removing features as you wish, and doing things like breathing in areas with no oxygen and moving freely in areas with heavy gravity. May be disabled by user.**

 **Space: Decree [Active] Lv. 55:** **This enables you to expand on the effects of Orb, and extend your personal space to affect the world around you. You can set rules such as "Weaken" Devils, "Strengthen" Angels, or simply manipulate the temperature, humidity and gravity of the affected area. Your current range of effect is: 12 feet.**

 **Space: Gate [Active] Lv. Max:** **With this skill, you can create portals as you so wish which instantaneously takes you to any location given that you know the location and can suitably visualize it. Portals can also be used offensively or defensively. You may also utilize portals to send items to your inventory, or your Instant Dungeons.**

He mused over the skills, cracking his knuckles before extending his hand outwards and subvocalizing Gate. A black, murky portal appeared in front of him, twisting and turning in nature, but still being somewhat translucent enough to see the other side. Likewise, a similar inky portal appeared behind him, and he pushed his hand into the portal in front, only for it to come out from the one behind, as he proceeded to scratch angles of his own back he could never truly reach.

"Ahhh… that's the best."

Portals for the win!

Still, disregarding his current use or abuse of his powers, Hyoudou Issei realized that the situation he was about to encounter was one that did not sound at all amusing.

It sounded more like the beginnings of a bad joke; a vampire, a dhampire, a tailed beast, a sage and a gamer walked up to a table to eat breakfast. It was the sort of thing you would expect someone to say in a parody, and of course, you could not help but wonder what possible punchline or correlation these things would have. Still, asinine as it sounded, it was exactly what had happened, or rather, it was what would have happened, had it seemed that Naruto had failed to inform Alucard of where they would be going.

A dazzling yellow flash had filled up the room, and the group stood, with Alucard blinking, Gasper already in front of him in a defensive position, Naruto smiling in that I-did-something-but-forgot-to-tell-you kind of way and Kurama… Kurama was in a cute fox form.

A miniature fox, though with only one tail instead of his usual ten, and one would almost forget that this was a powerful being if they had seen him appear as such.

"Uzumaki, where have you brought us t- YOU?"

Why was Alucard giving him that battle-ready look? Oh, of course, he was technically allied with Orochimaru and the people who had painted him as a betrayer and murderer, by claiming he had been the one to finish off the Satans whilst they were weakened. Easily understandable as to why he would give him that look.

Gasper charged, and Issei smiled.

He _smiled_.

His bright shining teeth caught the Dhampire off guard, and one second, he was about to attack, the next, he was tumbling out of control to Issei's left as the Gamer side-stepped out of the way, and caught the boy with his arm, wrapping it around his neck as he gave him an affectionate noogie on the head.

He likewise paid no heed to Alucard's own surprised look, nor did he pay any to the complete shock that registered on Gasper's face.

Unfortunately, he had numerous memories of actually _training_ Gasper, and he now knew that Gasper's Forbidden Balor View only worked with things in his field of vision, and likewise, would deactivate and fail once he was forced to close his eyes. A rather simple but effective way to hinder a power that could stop time, was to make sure you were not in Gasper's field of vision, or to obstruct that vision entirely.

Though of course, he was somewhat happy that this Gasper was not a shy little crossdresser. The old one had it's perks… but Issei still had the squick feeling from when he remembered being sexually attracted to Gasper before being told that the dhampire was male.

They were called traps for an appropriate reason he supposed.

"Breakfast first, listen to what I have to say, _then_ you can decide if you want to kill me. Though we'd have to take it outside, because I like my place, and I like it in one piece."

In perhaps another universe entirely, his house would gain a form of sentient spirit that would walk around in an appealing one piece bathing suit.

Wait, why in the world had that even come up to the forefront of his mind? He shook his head and attributed to the effects of his own residual insanity.

"Yay! Pancakes!"

Surprisingly, Gasper Vladi seemed to like pancakes.

" **Pass me the bacon.** "

Unsurprisingly, Kurama went for the meat.

"Is there ramen on the menu?"

Doubly unsurprising, Naruto wanted ramen.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Dragon of Dragons – Game of the Year Edition ~~~~~~

 **Underworld**

 **Esau's Bar**

Esau let out a deep, dissatisfied groan as customers cheerfully rose their glasses, and drank to their merriment, and a small part of him was suitably annoyed particularly because he knew that the only reason his bar was this full, was because of his new 'waitress'.

"Nami-chan! We need a refill over here!"

"Get your lazy ass up and off that seat and go grab it."

"Oh, so cruel Nami-chan! My heart can't take it!"

Esau growled underneath his breath. Nami, or more accurately, Serafall Leviathan, was his newest barmaid, and of course, despite having died her hair a different, dull shade of blonde and tying it into a ponytail, wearing thick contacts that gave her blue eyes, and heavy wrappings and bindings that heavily constricted her breasts and made her look flat-chested she _still_ got the guys attention. Despite her acting being excellent, and her new persona being one of a cold-hearted, lazy, malevolent barmaid who sat at a corner and filed her nails all day until told to do some work, the men were _still_ attracted to her.

Sweet Abraham! It was like the men of today were so sexually frustrated that they'd go for any woman that remotely looked attractive. Why, in the good ol' days, they wouldn't have this kind of problem, because if you wanted a woman, you simply had to go meet with her father and you'd have her warming your bed that night. But then again, there were many, many issues of the good ol' days.

Still! He was not happy in the slightest, especially considering the ever so annoying fact that she was making his bar lively.

"My bar's supposed to be scary fer cryin' out loud."

His gaze turned over to the Bar's resident freeloader, finding him once more, peaceful and looking serene.

"Oi boy, I'm not paying ya ta sleep on da job!"

The man's eyes opened, and gave him a stare. "You're not paying me at all."

"Bah! I give ya a discount on drinks and ya practically live here! So where's that intimidatin' gaze ya supposed to have?"

For his part, he simply walked over to the spot where 'Nami' was, stood in front of her, and then let his expression fall on the other people of the bar, all of them watching with baited breath.

"She's mine."

Then, without saying anything else, he went back to peacefully sitting on the stool, leaving the room in a deep heavy silence as everyone immediately got the message. Following that, the turned to Esau, and his expression asked 'happy?' before he seemingly went back to his peaceful position. No one said a word, but instead, everyone got the idea that it was not a good idea to try anything with the new barmaid. Said barmaid did not do or say anything contrary, lest it break her act and someone began to see past the facade. Though, she did give the young man an odd, imperceptible look.

Esau sighed, momentarily happy with the silence, though somewhat still annoyed that the ol' crow winged general, Azazel, was using his storeroom as some sort of military operation campaign during the night, and of course Serafall was in on it. He just hoped that this would not lead to the destruction of his bar, because he really, really liked his bar.

"Oi... boy, what in all of Israel is that?"

Everyone had turned to the center of the room, where stacks of papers and flyers had flown in, utilizing an old form of parchment that even Esau was surprised to see in such good quality, and in no time at all, Vergil had grabbed one, and he seemed to instantly beam from reading it, before he stood from his seat, and vanished out of the bar. Curious, Esau also moved over to one of the parchments, grabbing it to read.

 _ **Tournament of Champions**_

 **Mongrels and scum, and all others who dare claim themselves to be warriors or champions, you have been granted the honor of proving yourselves before me. Display your pugnacious nature before your King, and those of you who prove to not be a mere waste of my breath and time shall be granted upon the single usage of a gift from my vast collection. You will be allowed to gaze upon the sight of the Grail, and I will allow your filthy hands to touch it, once, and only once, shall you prove yourself worthy.**

 **I await your arrival mongrels. Come, and display your worth before the King.**

* * *

 **Kindly Read and Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


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